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The Certain Hour
Chivalry
The Cords of Vanity
Domnei
The Eagle's Shadow
Figures of Earth
Gallantry
The Jewel Merchants
Jurgen A Comedy of Justice
The Line of Love
The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck
Taboo
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Customer Reviews (1)

Not really...
Aside from misspelling his surname on the author line, and not offering an Update Info link to tell them about it, this is hardly the "Essential" James Branch Cabell. Of the 12 works in this kindle bundle only Figures of Earth and Jurgen merit that description. The novels Domnei and Rivet in Grandfather's Neck, along with the story collections The Certain Hour, Chivalry, and Gallantry are good without being 'Essential'; but Eagle's Shadow, Cords of Vanity, and The Line of Love are journeyman work, while Taboo (a brief satirical fable) and The Jewel Merchants (a one-act play) are filler. If this were truly the Essential Cabell it would include The Silver Stallion, The High Place, and The Cream of the Jest. Caveat emptor. ... Read more

Product Description
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

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Wonderfully cynical
Mundus vult decipi - the world wants to be deceived - and the happier man is one whose desires remain unfulfilled inform all of Cabell's writing. As the chroniclers write of Poictesme's redemption:

"For although this was a very heroic war, with a parade of every sort of high moral principle, and with the most sonorous language employed upon both sides, it somehow failed to bring about either the reformation or the ruin of humankind: and after the conclusion of the murdering and general breakage, the world went on pretty much as it has done after all other wars, with a vague notion that a deal of time and effort had been unprofitably invested, and a conviction that it would be inglorious to say so." (p. 183)

And as Manuel tells Sesphra:

"The devil of it was that these proud aims did not stay unattained! Instead, I was cursed by getting my will, and always my reward was nothing marvelous and rare, but that quite ordinary figure of earth, a human woman. And always in some dripping dawn I turned with abhorrence from myself and from the sated folly that had hankered for such prizes, which, when possessed showed as not wonderful in any thing, and which possession left likable enough, but stripped of dear bewitchments." (p. 210)

What saves Cabell's work from sinking into the unrelieved and brutal cynicism of more recent works like Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself or Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule is the author's sharp wit and humor. And, above all, Cabell's acceptance that things aren't all that bleak despite people's foolishness and the futility of desire:

"So you waste time, my friend, in trying to convince me of all human life's failure and unimportance, for I am not in sympathy with this modern morbid pessimistic way of talking. It has a very ill sound, and nothing whatever is to be gained by it." (p. 283)

This is the most enjoyable of Cabell's work I've read so far, but I hesitate to recommend him only because he's such an idiosyncratic writer - I've never read anyone quite like Cabell, though I would encourage anyone to try him. Figures of Earth is a good place to start, but Jurgen or The Silver Stallion are also representative and readable examples of his work. And, though they're all linked by theme and many common characters, they're also standalone novels; you can read them in no particular order (Jurgen was my first Cabell novel). ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. It may have numerous typos or missing text. However, purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original rare book from the publisher's website (GeneralBooksClub.com). You can also preview excerpts of the book there. Purchasers are also entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Original Publisher: Richmond, Va. : W. C. Hill Printing Co.; Publication date: 1915; Subjects: Family ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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_The Witch Woman_ collects three fantastic novellas set in Poictesme, the imaginary medieval land featured in such Cabell classics as _Jurgen_ and _Figures of Earth,_ all dealing with the most central of Cabell themes, the elusive feminine ideal, here personified in the seductive Ettarre la Beale, the third daughter of Dom Manuel the Redeemer. Here we read how a poet, a king, and a bishop (who also happens to be a werewolf) sought the unattainable Ettarre, and what became of them. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / Fantasy / General; Fiction / Fantasy / Epic; Fiction / Fantasy / Historical; Humor / General; ... Read more

Product Description
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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And so the little china people remained together and were thankful for the rivet in grandfather’s neck, and continued to love each other until they were broken to pieces. ... Read more

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Illustrated by Will Graf¿ ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / General; Fiction / Fantasy / General; Fiction / Fantasy / General; Fiction / Fantasy / Epic; Fiction / Fantasy / Historical; ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Woman-Worship: A troubadourian philosophy, theme & malady
This was the original 1913 title of the book which in 1927, was changed by JBC to DOMNEI.

In "Le roman de lusignan" (1546), Nicolas de Caen illustrated the concept of DOMNEI in the tale of Perion and Melicent.Unfortunately, the original work only survived in fragments, so in the 20thcentury, James Branch Cabell conducted a search of the literature from the15th century to the 19th, and found 20 sources which shed light on theevents chronicled in the fragments.

Perion, the embodiement of Chivalry,took the blame for a crime and became a forest outlaw.Once, to avoidcapture, he waylayed and assumed the identity of the Vicomte de Puysangeand secured entrance to the palace of Count Emmerick of Poictesme where thebetrothal of the count's sister Melicent to King Theodoret was beingcelebrated. Before the celebration had ended, Perion asked Melicent's helpto flee the country. She was smitten by love for him and agreed to do it.She tried to flee with him, but her cousin, the warrior-bishop Ayrart deMontors, managed to prevent such an event and Perion boarded a ship to takecommand of a band of mercenaries. Before the ship reached its destination,it was attacked by three ships of the pro-consul Demetrios--an embodiementof Gallantry, and Perion became his prisoner and assigned to perform menialtasks for the pro-consul.Demetrios was the pro-consul of Naucaria inAnatolia--a surviving fragment of the Roman Empire in which the paganreligion still flourished. Melicent learned of Perion'scapture, disguisedherself as a young man and sought out Demetrios. She tried to ransom Perionwith jewels, but Demetrios saw through her disguise and forced her to marryhim to secure Perion's release. From that point on, Perion and Demetriosbecame two dogs fighting over a bone with dire consequences for many. Thetwists and turns of the story with its wealth of characters and eventsnever falters. ... Read more