The Collected Jorkens, Volume Three

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The Collected Jorkens, Volume Three
Author Lord Dunsany
Cover artist from work by Sidney Sime
Country U.S.
Language English
Series Jorkens
Genre(s) fantasy short stories
Publisher Night Shade Books
Publication date 2005
Media type Print (Hardback)
Preceded by The Collected Jorkens, Volume Two

The Collected Jorkens, Volume Three is an omnibus collection of fantasy short stories by author Lord Dunsany. It was first published in 2005 by Night Shade Books, by arrangement with the Dunsany Literary Estate. The omnibus gathers the fifth and sixth books of Dunsany's Jorkens tales, with three previously uncollected pieces, including the last Jorkens story written.

The stories are "recorded" by an unnamed narrator, having been "overheard" being told by Mr. Joseph Jorkens in a London club.

The books, Jorkens Borrows Another Whiskey and The Last Book of Jorkens were originally published in 1954 and 2002 respectively (the latter, prepared for publication around 1957, and only discovered in 2001, was published in a limited edition, with an introduction explaining its origins - not reproduced in the omnibus volume). The fifth book brought one key story in which Jorkens is joined by his most frequent adversary, Terbut, while the sixth book contains two stories written as late as 1957 (February and August); the author died in October 1957.

The omnibus volume contains a range of front matter and fifty nine stories.

  • Brief Foreword to the Collected Edition of Jorkens (by the 20th Baron Dunsany)
  • Preface by Michael Dirda
  • Introduction by S.T. Joshi
  • Bibliographical Note
  • "Preface to Jorkens Borrows Another Whiskey
  • "The Two-Way War"
  • "A Nice Lot of Diamonds"
  • "Letting Bygones be Bygones"
  • "The Lost Invention"
  • "On Other Paths"
  • "The Partner"
  • "Poulet a la Richelieu"
  • "A Walk in the Night"
  • "One Summer's Evening"
  • "A Friend of the Family"
  • "An Eccentricity of Genius"
  • "Influenza"
  • "The Unrecorded Test Match"
  • "Idle Tears"
  • "Among the Neutrals"
  • "An Idyll of the Sahara"
  • "The Devil among the Willows"
  • "A Spanish Castle"
  • "The New Moon"
  • "The Gods of Clay"
  • "A Rash Remark"
  • "The Story of Jorkens' Watch"
  • "The Track Through the Wood"
  • "Snow Water"
  • "The Greatest Invention"
  • "The Verdict"
  • "A Conversation in Bond Street"
  • "The Reward"
  • "Which Way?"
  • "A Desperado in Surrey"
  • "Misadventure"
  • "A Long Memory"
  • "An Absentminded Professor"
  • "Greek Meets Greek"
  • "A Fatal Mistake"
  • "A Prophet Without Honour"
  • "A Big Bang"
  • "Jorkens’ Regret"
  • "The Two Scientists"
  • "The Lost Charm"
  • "Bringing Things Up to Date"
  • "A Snake Story"
  • "The Deal"
  • "In the Mojave"
  • "A Modern Conqueror"
  • "The Little Light"
  • "Across the Colour Bar"
  • "A Bit of Counter-Espionage"
  • "A Wonderful Day"
  • "Not Guilty"
  • "The Explanation"
  • "A Deal with a Witch"
  • "Jorkens’ Dilemma"
  • "A Plaything of Our Betters"
  • "The Visitor"
  • "On Wings of Song"
  • "The Two Jenets" [1]
  • "A Meeting of Spirits" [2]
  • "The Ultimate Goal" [3]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Previously uncollected and unpublished.
  2. ^ Identified as the last Jorkens story written, within 1-2 months of the author's death, published some time after that event, in Time and Tide.
  3. ^ Uncollected previously.