Mary Webb: An Annotated Bibliography of Writings About Her

119 MARYWEBB: AN ANNOTATED BI BLIOGRAPHY OF WRITINGS ABOUT HER by Charles Sanders (University of Illinois) In locating obscure references to Mrs. V/ebb and securing copies of them, I am indebted to the generous staffs of The New York Public Library, The Boston Public Library, The Cleveland Public Library, and The Library of the University of Illinois. I also wish to thank W. Eugene Davis and Edward S. Lauterbach, both of Purdue University, for their editorial assistance in preparing this bibliography. A., E. V. "A MARY WEBB ANTHOLOGY," FORUM, CIII (June 1940), 333. Review. W. "with a burden of beauty lisping about her head, gently blundered into immortal ity." Adcock, Arthur St. John. THE GLORY THAT WAS GRUB STREET: IMPRESSIONS OF CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS. Lond: Sampson, Low, nd. Pp. 321-30. A brief biog. and general appreciation of W. Addison, Hilda. MARY WEBB: A SHORT STUDY OF HER LIFE AND WORK. Lond: Cecil Palmer, 1931. One-third of Addison's book is devoted to W's life, with only passing refs to the novels prior to PRECIOUS BANE. This novel and W's poetry are each given a chapter of appreciation: "PRECIOUS BANE is a work of indubitable genius"; "many of her poems will survive the test of time." The final third is devoted to W's humor, her frank treatment of men and women, and her religion. "Nothing escaped her [W's] amazing curiosity and zeal for laughter"; defends W's "unflinching candour" regarding sex; and believes that W's "religious development seems to fall roughly into three main phases correspondingly reflected in her writings: the orthodox Christianity of the English Church, a pantheistic mysticism deeply tinctured with Christian elements, and a final stage in which this second attitude was modified by influences from a renewed interest in historical Catholicism." "Amid the Hills of Wales," INDEPENDENT, XC (2 June 1917), 438. Review of THE GOLDEN ARROW. W is "a realist, romanticist, idealist" combined; the novel is "redolent of the good odor of earth which clings to all sincere stories of peasant 1 i fe." "Among the 'Local ist,'" NATION, CV (20 Sept 1917), 317. Review of GONE TO EARTH. "On the whole, the 'localism' of this writer is hardly more than a garb for her bitter distrust of human nature and society." "Anglo-French Literary Prizes Presented," TIMES (Lond), 7 July 1926, p. 18. Notice that W received femina vie heureuse at Institut Francais, South Kensington on 6 July 1926. 120 "ARMOUR WHEREIN HE TRUSTED," BOOKMAN (NY), LXIX (29 May 1929), 23. Review. "The novel is richly and skillfully wrought. . . .flecked with passages of beauty as a missal is flecked with gold." "ARMOUR WHEREIN HE TRUSTED," NEW YORK TIMES, 28 April 1929, p. 6. Review. The stories are "illumined by real charm of style. . . .sensitiveness to atmosphere. . . .humanity spring out of the soil, and an air of natural feeling rather than sentimentality," but they are still "last leavings" and give only "a sense of fine talent." Armstrong, Martin. "Introduction," ARMOUR WHEREIN HE TRUSTED: A NOVEL AND SOME STORIES. Lond: Jonathan Cape, 1929. Pp. 11-16. W's unfinished novel stands "a story complete in itself. . .if the reader breaks off. . .before the fragment actually breaks off" (i.e., p. 124). He finds the other stories in this vol. "of unequal merit"; W's "technique was intuitive," and because she was unable to simplify and select, "her stories seldom if ever reach the level of her novels and poems." ........ "Introduction," THE ESSENTIAL MARY WEBB. Lond: Jonathan Cape, I949. Pp. 7-10. Classifies V/ as a "Romantic novelist" whose aim is "to present a series of exciting events, submit. . .characters to them, and see that they react with the maximum of feeling." B., F. "Mary V/ebb'1 s Poems," BOSTON TRANSCRIPT (BOOK SECTION), 27 Apr 1929, p. 5. Review of POEMS AND THE SPRING OF JOY. W's poems possess a "haunting loveliness"; her essays are "indeed poems in prose." Baker, Ernest A. THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL. Lond: H. F. & G. Witherby, I936. X, 221-26, 239; index. Though most critics regard W as a "hierophant' of the "cult of the primitive" (as a result of Hardy's influence...