Front matter
Reading edition
![265 copies of this book have been printed / 15 for presentation (A-O) / 250 subscribed (1-250) / This is No. [handwritten: 62.] / Signature / [handwritten: Arthur Machen]](/illustrations/dcbfc00d48110c2c.jpg)
Precious Balms
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
ELEUSINIA
THE ANATOMY OF TOBACCO
THE CHRONICLE OF CLEMENDY
THE GREAT GOD PAN
THE THREE IMPOSTORS
HIEROGLYPHICS
DR STIGGINS
THE HOUSE OF SOULS
THE HILL OF DREAMS
THE BOWMEN
THE GREAT RETURN
THE TERROR
WAR AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
THE SECRET GLORY
FAR OFF THINGS
THINGS NEAR AND FAR
THE SHINING PYRAMID
STRANGE ROADS
DOG AND DUCK
Precious Balms By Arthur Machen
Let the righteous smite me friendly and reprove me, but let not their precious balms break my head.—Ps. cxli
London: Spurr & Swift 123 Pall Mall, S.W.1 1924
Printed in Great Britain by Turnbull & Spears, Edinburgh
Melina Place London
May 1, 1924
My dear Spurr,
I am grieved, indeed, to hear your news about “Precious Balms.” You say that during your recent visit to America, you were made acquainted with some very serious misconceptions as to a phrase in the “Precious Balms” prospectus. This document stated that for a certain period I was “languishing in the cells of Carmelite House, serving a term of eleven years’ ‘hard’ for a series of obscure crimes.” And now you tell me that in the United States, this small piece of jocularity has been taken in the most serious way. People were anxious to be informed as to the exact nature of the crimes aforesaid, and confused Carmelite House with such establishments as The Tombs, Sing Sing, Pentonville and Wandsworth.
I am extremely sorry. I had no intention of hurting anybody’s feelings. I hope you will present my sincere regrets and apologies—in the proper quarters.
Yours sincerely,
ARTHUR MACHEN
Harry Spurr, Esq. Messrs Spurr & Swift Pall Mall, London