Looking for "The Octave of Claudius " by Barry Pain

[Lobolover]

A book published in 1897,writer by an author who died in 1928.Its description is as follows:

"CLAUDIUS Sandell, a young unpublished novelist, is rendered penniless and homeless when his father disowns him. The mysterious surgeon Dr. Lamb gives Claudius Ł8,000 to spend as he sees fit, and an octave (eight days) in which to spend it…on condition that Claudius must afterward submit to an experiment that will "benefit mankind."

In the next eight days, Claudius reconciles with his father, gets his novel accepted, meets a beautiful young woman who reciprocates his passion, and becomes wealthy in the stock market. Naturally, being a man of honor, Claudius reports to Dr. Lamb's laboratory on schedule. Fortunately, the crazed scientist's long-abused wife murders Dr. Lamb just as Claudius is about to be surgically regressed to simian form. "

It was also praised by George Orwell in his 1945 essay,and called it a "wery rare book" THEN.I wonder if anyone has this,or anyone knows where to get it,e book or paper .Australian Gutenberg only has a short story by Pain called "the end of a show",which isnt even amongst his more important works.

thanks for your help.

[Patricia]

While you continue looking, there is a collection of ten of Pain's short stories, called 'Stories in the Dark' at Horrormasters.com - unfortunately in pdf.

http://www.horrormasters.com/SS_Col_Pain1.htm

[HarryT]

No hits for it on abebooks, which is unusual. Might it have been included in a collection of stories under a different title, perhaps?

[Madam Broshkina]

I found the following at the internet archive but none contain The Octave of Claudius.

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=barry%20pain

Stories in grey ([1911?])

Eliza (c1904)

Stories without tears (1914)

In a Canadian canoe, The nine muses minus one, and other stories ([1891?])

The exiles of Faloo ([1910])

If winter don't ([c1922])

Marge Askinforit (1921)

Stories and interludes (c1892)

If summer don't ([1922?])

Playthings and parodies ([c1892])

De Omnibus ([19--?])

[mjh215]

That DOES seem like a rare title. You can check these library locations, mind you only 9 copies are shown worldwide plus one microfilm edition (Which might be best, as the others may be in a rare books section).

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1119257...=brief_results

If you don't mind paying, you could get a print out, or possibly scanned pdf thru the Copy Services staff at the NY public library. (They are the ones with the microfilm edition.
http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/se...photocopy.html

Good luck -MJ

[Lobolover]

except I dont live in the US.

[Lobolover]

HarryT -I think not.it was credited as a book by Orwell and as a stand alone piece on wikipedia.

[Patricia]

Lobolover, I see that you have a couple of threads asking for the location of ebooks.
May I recommend the Online Books search page? I have found it very useful.

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

the Digital Book Index is also good:

http://www.digitalbookindex.com/_sea...ch011t-rev.asp

[Lobolover]

neither of those has either the octave,or the 100% public domain Epicurean.

[mjh215]

Originally Posted by Lobolover

except I dont live in the US.

Why I specifically linked that one, you may want to try contacting them. If you get no where with the copy services, you could try the department that has the book directly. It might cost a handsome fee, or you may luck out and they'll take pity on you. Printing out the microfilm seems like alot easier request then getting someone to scan an entire book for you. Probably would depend on how you word your request. I would certainly bring up the non-availability of the title. They do have "Copy Services staff will accept photocopy requests from on-site users." listed, but again, it doesn't hurt to contact them.

-MJ

[Lobolover]

well,I could tell them that it is in the public domain.Hmm.I could give it a try.but what did you mean with "Copy Services staff will accept photocopy requests from on-site users." ?

[mjh215]

Sorry, I referenced that cause I think they list that to suggest that they don't perform that function for people that aren't physically in the library. But the fact you are quite removed from anywhere you could access the title (Strangely, most people are more willing to help someone halfway across the planet then they are their own neighbor) might buy you some sympathy. They would already know it is in the public domain, what you would probably need to do is give them a valid reason for their taking the time to help you. Like I said, one would be to reference the lack of copies worldwide. Your actual need for it and possibly others.

Again it is just a thought. That's arguably one of the worlds largest and busiest libraries. So whether or not they would feel you or Pain's novel is deserving is another matter. I looked thru their list of what is being digitized for Google and that doesn't look like it'd fall into those categories. Even the ones they are considering for the future.

-MJ

After writing this I thought to look at something. In addition to the New York Public Library, three of the libraries that have Octave of Claudius are part of the Google Books project. You may want to send them a request to add it to their titles to be scanned.
The three are Princeton University, University of Wisconsin - Madison, and University of California.

[Lobolover]

I can try,but sending a leter to Princeton,demanding them to do something seems kinda?Well,I WILL,IF I will get a contact on them.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Lobolover

I can try,but sending a leter to Princeton,demanding them to do something seems kinda?Well,I WILL,IF I will get a contact on them.

I suspect demanding won't get you very far. Honey works better than vinegar for this sort of thing.

Dale

[Lobolover]

I know that,Its just-sending a leter to Princeton for that......well,I can try.

ps:anyone know a contact on anyone in charge of google books?