The Tragedy of the Heavens.
London: The Westminster Press, 1930. First Edition. Hardcover. Royal octavo. 410pp. Black cloth lettered in gilt on spine, gilt heraldic design on upper board, beveled edges. Sepia frontisportrait & plates. Top-edge-gilt. A presentation copy INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author to Sir John Leigh on front free endpaper. This most likely refers to Sir John Leigh (1884 – 1959) a British mill-owner, who used his fortune to buy the newspaper Pall Mall Gazette, and launch his political career. The author, Lt.-Col. Sir Walter Gibbons, K.B.E., D.L. (1871-1933), was best known as a theatre-proprietor, but also served as an officer in the British Army (R.A.S.C.) during the First World War, was a Deputy-Lieutenant for the City of London, Chairman of the Royal Botanic Society, Vice Chairman and Founder of the Automobile Association, etc. etc. He was also very active in Spiritualism, being particularly close to the mediums F. Foster Craddock and Mrs. Osborne Leonard. The book largely comprises his thoughts on metaphysical philosophy and his reflections on Spiritualism and Spiritualists, and reproduces much of the voluminous correspondence he received from Craddock and Leonard, along with a number of his replies, as well as transcripts of six letters written to Gibbons by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Cloth lightly rubbed overall, light bumps and rubbing to corners spine ends and all edges, page edges a bit darkened, NYC Weiser bookshop sticker on front pastedown, pages lightly toned but bright and unmarked. Overall a VG+ copy of this scarce volume. Item #19674
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