THE HAUNTED HARP: THE NARRATIVE OF EVELYN DESMOND. Original Manuscript.

Holograph manuscript, black ink and pencil in leather bound notepad. c.130 pages. Emendations throughout. A good copy, the binding somewhat worn and the glue to the pastedowns perished resulting in loose endpapers and binder's waste. Some pages are toned and damp marked to the lower margins, the text clearly legible throughout.

A ghost story and seemingly the only published work of fiction by Sir Sommerville Arthur Gurney (1835-1917). The manuscript is dated by the author 'Xmas 1886' and was published by Arrowsmith (in sewn wrappers, 86 pages, at 1s) the following year. The 16 July 1887 issue of The Spectator magazine carried the following review "The Haunted Harp: the Narrative of Evelyn Desmond. By Somerville A. Gurney. (J. Arrowsmith, Bristol; Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., London.) This little tale is half a ghost-story, half a story of insanity, but wholly successful in giving its readers the shivers; and that, no doubt, was the main object of Mr. Gurney. If so, he has fully succeeded". The author, a Quaker from a prominent Norfolk family, worked in the family business Gurney's Bank (Norwich) before becoming a director of Barclays and Co Ltd following their takeover of the business. Also a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy-Lieutenant he was created a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order [KCVO] in 1909.