18th-century tale of supernatural forces at Nether Wallop. Rare lithograph book.
A fine example of this early lithographic book
[Ghost story] / [Supernatural phenomena] / [Early lithographic book] / [Cotton, Richard, et al.]. The Wallop Latch. For the amusement of the Wit or the Skeptic. [Middle Hill]: Ex Typographia Medio-Montana [Middle Hill Press], [c. 1854]. Folio [33.9 x 21.0 cm], [1] f. letterpress title page, [8] ff. hand-written lithograph text. Disbound, no doubt from an original composite volume from Middle Hill collecting items from the press (typical of shorter Middle Press items). On blue laid paper with the watermark “Salmon 1854,” soft crease to upper corner of title, a few stains to title, paperclip mark at upper left, a few very minor internal stains, minor toning at upper edge of text, paper still bright blue with writing clearly printing and perfectly legible throughout.
Rare first and only edition of this important early lithographic book -- an 18th-century ghost story worthy of further investigation for those interested in the early development of that genre -- from the Middle Hill Press of the eccentric bibliomaniac Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872). The Wallop Latch, printed on blue laid paper and intended for private circulation, is an account of supernatural phenomena observed between 1754 and 1760 in the village of Nether Wallop, Hampshire. The story is derived from an entry in Sir Thomas Gatehouse’s manuscript history of Hampshire (now Southampton University MS 5/15), dated 31 December 1778. In 1854, a century after the haunting first occurred, Phillipps had the tale copied out and printed at his estate on his William Day Lithographic Press.
The Wallop Latch begins, “Although the following Incident may appear at first sight, very trivial yet it will not, cannot, be considered as such, when the Reader is convinced, it was, and remains, out of all course of nature, both to the Operation and Operative Power.” There follows a precise account of the persistent violent rattling of heavy metal bar used to latch the front door of the cottage of a certain “Miss G__” (no doubt the Elizabeth Gatehouse who signs her name first among a group of witnesses at the end of the document). The story carefully traces the initial fright of Miss G__ and her sister Mrs. G__, disturbed by the latch’s loud banging while in their parlor reading “The Jew of Venice” (e.g., The Merchant of Venice), and recounts the dismay of villagers and visitors from farther afield (all named) who subsequently come to investigate the troubling mystery, subjecting the latch to various observations and tests but finding no rational cause for the phenomenon. The document is signed by a certain Richard Cotton and further certified by a William Huggins. Written in the form of a legal testimony, The Wallop Latch belongs to the category of semi-constructed, proto-realist attestations of folkloric, supernatural or psychic events that would provide the raw material for the more literary horror stories written during the classic phase of the genre from the early nineteenth century.
“Phillipps was one of the greatest (and perhaps the most voracious) of all book and manuscript collectors” (Tanselle, “Preface,” in Holzenberg, p. xi), and beginning in 1822 his delightful, often bizarre Middle Hill Press produced hundreds of items of true literary, bibliographic, antiquarian, local-historical, and genealogical importance, all the while mixing letterpress with experimental lithographic, anastatic and photographic techniques. Phillipps also used his press to handle business needs of the estate (e.g., blank forms), to engage in local squabbles and political disputes, and to print items of all sorts in very small batches for his own amusement or for informal distribution to friends (or enemies) of his choosing. His forays into hand-press lithographic book printing were of considerable bibliographic importance and figure heavily in Michael Twyman’s standard history of the early lithographic book (“The lithographic publications of Sir Thomas Phillipps,” pp. 89-102).
OCLC locates examples of The Wallop Latch at the Grolier Club, Yale, Harvard, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.
*E. Holzenberg, The Middle Hill Press: A Checklist of the Horblit Collection, p. 147, no. 551; M. Twyman, Early Lithographed Books, a study of the design and production of improper books in the age of the hand press, p. 329, no. 4.12.