The Dennis Wheatley 'Museum' - DW's Library

Dennis Wheatley's Library - modern first editions
R H Mottram

Two of Mottram’s seasonal booklets,
ex DW’s Library

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DW writes to Mottram admiringly
of ‘Sixty-Four, Ninety-Four !’
when it comes out

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For a transcript, Click here

DW had twenty seven of Mottram’s books in his Library, almost all signed with personal inscriptions, including the ‘Spanish Farm’ trilogy, which is generally acknowledged as one of the classics of World War One fiction.

In a way that he would later repeat with Huxley, DW wrote to Mottram admiringly when the second volume of the trilogy came out in 1925, disagreeing with the critics who had said that the first novel was the superior of the two.

The Farm in the novel is a battlefield landmark in Flanders, and this must have resonated with DW, who also served there in the War. In his memoirs DW wrote of ‘The Spanish Farm’ as ‘The most faultless description of the Ypres Salient as I saw it.’

The books may not have advanced hugely in price, especially if adjusted for inflation, but some of the seasonal booklets, such as the two illustrated above, were designed and assembled with considerable care and charm.

References : Officer and Temporary Gentleman page 147

Provenance : Private collections