Since 1992, Rebecca has run Praxis Books, a small press mainly dedicated to the reissue of the novels of Sabine Baring-Gould. SBG was a great man, with a multitude of interests. Almost everything he did is relevant and inspiring today. His Appreciation Society (see Link below) is active and sociable. Annual gatherings in the autumn are always profoundly instructive and enjoyable.
Praxis will also occasionally consider approaches from authors. The door is never completely closed, despite limited cash flow and unimpressive marketing performance…
Titles Available By Sabine Baring-Gould.
AVAILABLE SOON - JOHN HERRING. One of Baring-Gould''s most popular titles, this is a long book, full of quirky observations of Devon life in 1812. The characters are perhaps a bit less extreme than in some of the books. The story is one of unrequited love, betrayal and misunderstandings, with a pretty gloomy ending. Ready in June 2008. £12.50. Order by email.
THROUGH FLOOD AND FLAME
Baring-Gould’s first full length novel, written shortly after his marriage, telling the story of his early courtship of his young millgirl wife. Early copies of this novel are exceedingly hard to find, because the author did his best to suppress and destroy the work not long after it was published. He wrote it in a few weeks, in the tradition of a ‘novel of suspense’. A gem of great interest.
ISBN 0 9528420 1 7 £8.50
THE CHORISTER
A strange little story, written, apparently, in a sort of code for student friends, this is Baring-Gould’s first published work of fiction. His room at Clare College, Cambridge, looked out on King’s Chapel, and evidently inspired this bizarre story of the Civil War.
0 9528420 0 0 £6.00
RED SPIDER
A great favourite amongst Baring-Gould’s readers, this novel was written at the height of his powers. Well plotted, with fully-realised characters and a dash of the supernatural, the setting is a small West Devon village called Bratton Clovelly. This village is closely bound up with Baring-Gould’s own life, as well as that of Rebecca Tope, proprietor of Praxis Books.
ISBN 0 9518729 1 5 £5.00
MEHALAH
The most popular of all Baring-Gould’s novels, compared to Wuthering Heights in a review by Swinburne, it is the story of an obsession. In true Victorian style, the sexual undercurrents are well concealed, but still unmistakable. The backdrop of the Essex marshes gives the story an elemental flavour. Fast, exciting and full of passion, it still sells well today.
ISBN 0 9528420 3 3. £8.50
COURT ROYAL
A dense, rich story about two groups of people living in and near Plymouth. A pawnbroker and an aristocrat experience great changes of fortune through the story. Court Royal reads almost like a fairytale, with exuberant descriptions of the homes of the characters. Reviewed in The Spectator in August 2005, this book has many admirers.
ISBN 0 9528420 9 2 £10.00
GUAVAS THE TINNER
A book that exploits the romantic history of Dartmoor, featuring a tin miner of the sixteenth century. Fog, bog and ancient customs. A love triangle described with tremendous wit and relish.
ISBN 0 9528420 6 8 £7.50
BLADYS OF THE STEWPONEY
Nobody knows where he got Bladys from, as a name, but there was a real tavern known as the Stewponey in Kinver, in the West Midlands. The story names many real locations, and involves the burning at the stake of a minor female miscreant. There are clifftop caves, and savage highwaymen.
ISBN 0 9528420 9 2 £8.50
KITTY ALONE - Out of Print.
Set on the Teign estuary in South Devon, there is a sweetness to this book which has endeared it to readers. Inspired, apparently, by the folksong There was a frog lived in a well, the refrain runs through the story. We see temptation, deceit and exploitation, with the innocent Kitty at the centre of it all.
ISBN 0 9528420 8 4 £9.00
WINEFRED
A perennial favourite set on the South Devon coast at the time of a dramatic landslip in the early 19th century. Smuggling, social mobility, homelessness and self-sacrifice are all part of the tale.
ISBN 0 9518729 6 6 £6.50
A BOOK OF FOLKLORE
Written late in his life, this book assembles many of Baring-Gould’s collected anecdotes and findings concerning disappearing superstitions and practices. A slim book, by his usual standards, it still holds great fascination for readers and sells reliably year after year.
ISBN 0 9518729 4 X £5.00
BY OTHER WRITERS
THE DRAGON’S TOOTH
Martin Hall
The only children’s title published by Praxis, this fantasy story has several enthusiastic fans. The dragon has toothache, and the pirates little realise what is about to befall them.
ISBN 0 9518729 9 0 £3.50
IN SEARCH OF LIFE’S MEANING
Raymond Matley and Rebecca Smith
The first Praxis title, a self-published work of popular philosophy, offering a compendium of approaches to life and death.
ISBN 0 9518729 0 7 £5.00
A RESTLESS LIFE
Frances Morison
A memoir of a life both ordinary and remarkable. Frances moved countless times, over the years, acquiring three children, many jobs and a firm set of opinions. As a picture of Britain in the postwar years, this story has great value. Frances met and worked with the nobility, but was often in real poverty. She was seldom downcast, using her natural wit and courage to survive when there was often nobody to help.
ISBN 0 9528420 5 X £8.00
BY WAY OF BEACHY HEAD
ISBN 0 9528420 0 9 £ 6.00
And
FROM SIDE TO SIDE
ISBN 0 9528420 4 1 £6.00
Joyce Tombs
Two volumes, charting two long walks made by Joyce when she was over 70. Delightfully written, funny and inspiring, these books are popular with walkers everywhere. ‘Simple and uplifting’ was the verdict in the Daily Telegraph.
ALSO AVAILABLE
THE COMPLETION
by Chris Marsh
A strange fantasy, taking us to the very end of human history. Profound, thought-provoking, shocking, this was a joint venture with BackWater Publishing. A book that deserves a wide readership.
ISBN 0 9525289 0 8 £6.00
THE POET’S KIT
Katherine Knight
One of our best sellers, this little book introduces the reader to all the elements necessary for a serious understanding of poetry. In conjunction with individual creative energy, it off