Books with author Wallace Goldsmith

1906 edition, illustrated by Wallace Goldsmith"The Canterville Ghost" is a novella by Oscar Wilde. It has been adapted for the stage and screen several times.This is a story is about an American family who move to a castle haunted by the ghost of a dead nobleman, who killed his wife and was starved to death by his wife's brothers.It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in 1887. The story did not immediately receive much critical attention, and indeed Wilde was not viewed as an important author until the publication, during the 1890s, of his novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" (1891) and of several well-received plays, including "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1895). In “The Canterville Ghost,” Wilde draws upon fairy tales, Gothic novels, and stories of Americans abroad to shape his comic ghost story. One of the major themes in the story is the culture clash between a sixteenth-century English ghost and a late nineteenth-century American family. But the story also examines the disparity between the public self and the private self, a theme to which Wilde would return again in his later writings.

Annotations•AUTHOR•The Canterville Ghost Summary•The Canterville Ghost Glossary•The Canterville Ghost Themes•The Canterville Ghost Quotes and Analysis•The Canterville Ghost Symbols, Allegory and Motifs•The Canterville Ghost Metaphors and Similes•The Canterville Ghost Irony•The Canterville Ghost Imagery•The Canterville Ghost The Canterville Ghost and Gothic LiteratureHorace B. Otis, a wealthy American, purchases Canterville Chase, an ancient English manor-house, despite warnings that the house is known to be haunted. He moves into the house accompanied by his wife, his eldest son Washington, his daughter Virginia, and his two younger twin sons. Immediately upon arrival, the family is confronted by a bloodstain in a sitting room. The housekeeper, Mrs. Umney, explains that the stain has been there since 1575 and is the result of Lady Eleanore de Canterville having been brutally murdered by her husband, Sir Simon de Canterville.The Otis family takes a pragmatic perspective and scrubs the stain away; they repeat the process when the stain continues to reappear every morning. The stubborn reappearance of the stain, as well as other strange occurrences around the house, leads them to consider that the rumor of the ghost may not be totally unfounded. These ideas are confirmed when one night, the sound of clanking chains wakes Mr Otis from his sleep. He gets out of bed and confronts a terrifying ghost, but responds only by recommending that the ghost oil his chains so that he does not cause so much noise when he is walking around at night.Mr. Otis is not the only family member who is not afraid of the ghost: the young twins enjoy tormenting the ghost with pranks. The ghost is very proud of his tradition of terrifying visitors for hundreds of years, and he is determined to strike fear into the American family. However, the more and more terrifying he tries to be, the more they either make fun of or ignore him. Things hit rock bottom for the Canterville Ghost when the twins actually create a fake ghost of their own to scare the real ghost. He accepts that he has lost his status and power, and he begins to become depressed and pine away.Meanwhile, Virginia's beauty has attracted the attention of the young Duke of Cheshire, who comes to stay at Canterville Chase. While he is visiting, Virginia unexpectedly comes across the secret hiding lair of the ghost. The ghost explains his sadness and suffering, telling her that he longs for the peaceful experience of death. He also tells her that because of her purity and innocence, she can help him to achieve this peace. Even though she is frightened, Virginia agrees to help; the two of them pass through a secret opening in the wall and vanish.When Virginia cannot be found, her family and the Duke become very upset. A few hours later, Virginia appears in the dark at the top of the stairs. Her only explanation of her disappearance is that she has assisted in finally bringing eternal rest to the Canterville Ghost. As a token of his thanks and affection, Sir Simon has given her a box filled with jewels. Virginia leads the family into a secret chamber, where they are greeted by the sight of his skeletal remains. Four days later, Sir Simon’s body is finally laid to rest with a proper burial.Virginia subsequently marries the Duke of Cheshire. Although she never tells anyone what she experienced when she vanished with the Ghost, she always reflects affectionately on him and his memory.

"The Canterville Ghost" is a short story by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). It was first published in 1887. The story begins when a rich American family shifted to Canterville Chase, despite warnings that the house is haunted. At first, none of the member of the family believes in ghosts, but shortly none of them can deny the presence of Sir Simon (The Ghost)…The ebook contains several beautiful illustrations of the 1906 edition. It also contains the “Phrases And Aphorisms For The Use Of The Young” published by Wilde in 1894.

The story begins when Mr Otis's family shifted to Canterville Chase, despite warnings from Lord Canterville that the house is haunted. The Otis family includes Mr. and Mrs. Otis, their daughter Virginia, twin boys (often referred to as "Stars and Stripes") and their oldest son Washington. At the onset of the tale, not one member of the Otis family believes in ghosts, but shortly after they move in, none of them can deny the presence of Sir Simon (The Ghost). The family hears clanking chains, they witness re-appearing bloodstains "on the floor just by the fireplace", and they see strange apparitions in various forms. But, humorously, none of these scare the Otises in the least. In fact, upon hearing the clanking noises in the hallway, Mr. Otis promptly gets out of bed and pragmatically offers the ghost Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator to oil his chains.Despite Sir Simon’s attempts to appear in the most gruesome guises, the family refuses to be frightened, and Sir Simon feels increasingly helpless and humiliated. When Mrs. Otis notices a mysterious red mark on the floor, she simply replies that she does “not at all care for blood stains in the sitting room.” When Mrs. Umney, the housekeeper, informs Mrs. Otis that the blood stain is indeed evidence of the ghost and cannot be removed, Washington Otis, the eldest son, suggests that the stain be removed with Pinkerton’s Champion Stain Remover and Paragon Detergent: A quick fix, like the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator, and a practical way of dealing with the problem.Wilde describes Mrs. Otis as “a very handsome middle-aged woman” who has been “a celebrated New York belle.” Her expression of "modern" American culture surfaces when she immediately resorts to using the commercial stain remover to obliterate the bloodstains and when she expresses an interest in joining the Psychical Society to help her understand the ghost. Mrs. Otis is given Wilde's highest praise when he says: "Indeed, in many respects, she was quite English..."The most colourful character in the story is undoubtedly the ghost himself, Sir Simon, who goes about his duties with theatrical panache and flair. He assumes a series of dramatic roles in his failed attempts to impress and terrify the Otises, making it easy to imagine him as a comical character in a stage play. The ghost has the ability to change forms, so he taps into his repertoire of tricks. He takes the role of ghostly apparitions such as a Headless Earl, a Strangled Babe, the Blood-Sucker of Bexley Moor, Jonas the Graveless, Suicide’s Skeleton, and the Corpse-Snatcher of Chertsey Barn, all having succeeded in horrifying previous castle residents over the centuries. But none of them works with these Americans. Sir Simon schemes, but even as his costumes become increasingly gruesome, his antics do nothing to scare his house guests, and the Otises succeed in foiling him every time. He falls victim to trip wires, pea shooters, butter-slides, and falling buckets of water. In a particularly comical scene, he is frightened by the sight of a “ghost,” rigged up by the mischievous twins.During the course of the story, as narrated by Sir Simon, we come to understand the complexity of the ghost’s emotions. We see him brave, frightening, distressed, scared, and finally, depressed and weak. He exposes his vulnerability during an encounter with Virginia, Mr. Otis’ fifteen-year-old daughter. Virginia is different from everyone else in the family, and Sir Simon recognizes this fact. He tells her that he has not slept in three hundred years and wants desperately to do so. The ghost reveals to Virginia the tragic tale of his wife, Lady Eleanor de Canterville.

The Canterville Ghost is a novella by Oscar Wilde(1854-1900). It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts in The Court and Society Review, 23 February and 2 March 1887. The story is about a family who moves to a castle haunted by the ghost of a dead nobleman, who killed his wife and was starved to death by his wife's brothers. It has been adapted for the stage and screen several times.

*This book is Annotated (It contains a biography of the Author).* "The Canterville Ghost" is a short story by Oscar Wilde, widely adapted for the screen and stage. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published. The story is about a family who moves to a castle haunted by the ghost of a dead nobleman, who killed his wife and was starved to death by his wife's brothers.

"The Canterville Ghost" is a short story by Oscar Wilde, widely adapted for the screen and stage. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts in The Court and Society Review, 23 February and 2 March 1887.[1] The story is about a family who moves to a castle haunted by the ghost of a dead nobleman, who killed his wife and was starved to death by his wife's brothers.The home of the Canterville Ghost was the ancient Canterville Chase, which has all the accoutrements of a traditional haunted house. Descriptions of the wainscoting, the library panelled in black oak, and the armour in the hallway characterise the setting. Wilde mixes the macabre with comedy, juxtaposing devices from traditional English ghost stories such as creaking floorboards, clanking chains, and ancient prophecies. The story begins when Mr Otis and family move into Canterville Chase, despite warnings from Lord Canterville that the house is haunted. Mr Otis says that he will take the furniture as well as the ghost at valuation. The Otis family includes Mr and Mrs Otis, their eldest son Washington, their daughter Virginia and the Otis twins. The other characters include the Canterville Ghost, the Duke of Cheshire (who wants to marry Virginia), Mrs Umney (the housekeeper), and Rev. Augustus Dampier. At first, none of the Otis family believe in ghosts, but shortly after they move in, none of them can deny the presence of Sir Simon de Canterville . The family hears clanking chains, they witness reappearing bloodstains "on the floor just by the fireplace", which are removed every time they appear in various forms. But, humorously, none of these scare the Otis family in the least. In fact, upon hearing the clanking noises in the hallway, Mr Otis promptly gets out of bed and pragmatically offers the ghost Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator to oil his chains.

By Wallace Smith, his second book after The Little Tigress. From the front flap: "A happy little book about a packhorse trip in the Yellowstone country, with many sketches by the author. It will delight everyone who ever caught a fish or tramped the trails that lead away from civilization into the mountains." The back flap has a short review of The Little Tigress, a story of life South of the Border.