The Tyranny of the Dark Illustrated by W. E. Mears

London and New York: Harper & Brothers, 1925. MCMV at title page. Copyright 1905, by Hamlin Garland; Published May, 1905. Midnight blue full cloth pictorial boards, gilt cover and spine titles, moderate shelf wear. Front boards depicts large bat w/oustretched wings and rope bound crossed wrists above this; in foreground of yellow-greenish full moon disc. Pages near fine. Feature eight smooth coated illustration plates by W. E. Mears. The imagery captures the "Victorian-like" age at turn of century. For more than 40 years, William Mears was the Art Editor and Director of Production for Harper's magazine. Rare sharp first edition. Hannibal Hamlin Garland was born on a farm near West Salem, Wisconsin, on September 14, 1860. In 1917, he published his autobiography, A Son of the Middle Border. A sequel, A Daughter of the Middle Border, won him the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. After moving to Hollywood, California, in 1929, he devoted his remaining years to investigating psychic phenomena, an enthusiasm he first undertook in 1891. Here, in Tyranny of the Dark, a young protagonist is gifted with psychic powers, which take control, entrapping her in trances. Dreaming of a normal life, she is rescued by a scientist who believes she should be allowed to determine her own fate. Complete with seances and ghosts, this tale was inspired by Hamlin Garland's interest in psychic phenomena. In his final book, The Mystery of the Buried Crosses (1939), he tried to defend psychic phenomena and prove the legitimacy of psychic mediums. Lee Shippey, LA Times columnist, recalled Garland's system of writing: "...he got up at half past five, brewed coffee and toast on an electric gadget in his study and at work by six. At nine o'clock he was through with work for the day. Then he breakfasted, read the morning paper, and attended to his personal mail... After luncheon he and Mrs. Garland would take a long drive... Sometimes they would drop in on Will Rogers, Will Durant, Robert Benchley or even me, for their range of friends was very wide... After dinner they would go to a show if an exceptionally good one were in town, otherwise one of their daughters would read aloud." 439 pages. Insured post. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall.