1896 Rare First Edition - The Were-Wolf by Clemence Housman, Illustrated
A rare first edition of Clemence Housman’s celebrated Gothic novella, complete with all six atmospheric illustrations by Laurence Housman and preserved in its original publisher’s distinctive russet cloth binding.
Author: Clemence Housman. Illustrated by Laurence Housman.
Title: The Were-Wolf.
Publisher: London: John Lane at the Bodley Head; Chicago: Way and Williams, 1896.
Edition: First Edition.
Language: Text in English.
Pages: 123 pages.
Size: 7 x 5.5 inches.
Binding: Very good original publisher’s russet-brown cloth binding, lettered in black to the upper board and spine, with Laurence Housman’s distinctive heart-shaped device to the front cover and double ruled borders at head and foot. Light expected rubbing and minor marks to the cloth, with slight wear at the spine ends and corners, but the binding remains firm, clean and notably attractive. Protected in a removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good. The pages are generally bright, clean and well preserved, with only occasional light foxing and age toning. Attractive illustrated bookplate of Aimee A. Gibbons to the front pastedown, with corresponding rectangular offsetting to the facing free endpaper, as shown. Otherwise internally clean.
Illustrations: Complete with six full-page black-and-white illustrations by Laurence Housman, including the frontispiece Holy Water, together with Rol’s Worship, White Fell’s Escape, The Race, The Finish and Sweyn’s Finding. Also decorated with Laurence Housman’s elaborate ornamental title-page design and large decorative initial.
Estimate: USD $400–600.
The book: First published in 1896, The Were-Wolf is one of the most distinctive works of late Victorian supernatural fiction. Set within an isolated Scandinavian community, the story introduces the beautiful and mysterious White Fell, whose arrival inspires fascination, jealousy and fear as her true nature is gradually revealed. Housman combines the traditional werewolf legend with psychological tension, religious symbolism, sacrifice and questions of desire and identity, creating a novella whose atmosphere is closer to literary Gothic than conventional horror.
The first edition is also a particularly successful example of fin-de-siècle book design. Published by John Lane at the Bodley Head, it combines the finely printed text with red-orange ornamental typography, decorative initials and Laurence Housman’s six stark illustrations. The restrained russet cloth binding and enigmatic heart-shaped device complement the strange beauty of the story, making the volume desirable both as an important early work of supernatural fiction and as an attractive example of 1890s illustrated publishing.
The author: Clemence Annie Housman (1861–1955) was an English writer, illustrator, wood engraver and prominent campaigner for women’s suffrage. Sister of the poet A. E. Housman and the artist Laurence Housman, she trained as an engraver and participated actively in the artistic and political life of late Victorian and Edwardian Britain.
The Were-Wolf remains her best-known literary work and has attracted renewed attention for its unusual treatment of the female werewolf and its exploration of gender, temptation, morality and self-sacrifice. Housman later became deeply involved in the suffrage movement and was among the women arrested during protests against the government’s treatment of the Conciliation Bill.
The illustrator: Laurence Housman (1865–1959), Clemence Housman’s younger brother, was an English illustrator, writer, playwright and designer associated with the Arts and Crafts movement and the aesthetic culture of the 1890s. His decorative work was strongly influenced by medieval art, Pre-Raphaelitism and the revival of fine book design characteristic of the period.
His illustrations for The Were-Wolf are among the book’s defining features. Their bold black line, medievalizing atmosphere and dramatic compositions intensify the story’s supernatural character, while his ornamental title page and distinctive cover device give the first edition a remarkably unified visual identity.