Davey, Norman
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1888-1949) UK engineer and author, in active service throughout World War One, whose Perhaps: A Tale of To-morrow (1914; rev vt Yesterday: A Tory Fairy-Tale 1924) wittily (but also frivolously) describes the Near-Future secession of the Isle of Wight. Although copies of the original version of Perhaps exist, there is no clear evidence that it was officially published; this omission was almost certainly because of the start of war. Yesterday presents essentially the same story as fantasy. Davey's other genre works are fantasies, the best known of these being the Matthew Sumner books: The Pilgrim of a Smile (1921) and The Penultimate Adventure (1924 chap), both assembled as The Pilgrim of a Smile (omni 1933), and Judgment Day (1928), reminiscent of T F Powys [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below] in its depiction of a small English town confronted by a quasi-Biblical Day of Judgment. [JC]
Henry Norman Davey
born Malden, Surrey: 5 May 1888
died Diano Marina, Italy: 6 June 1949
works (selected)
series
Matthew Sumner
- The Pilgrim of a Smile (London: Chapman and Hall, 1921) [Matthew Sumner: hb/]
- The Penultimate Adventure (London: Elkin Mathews, 1924) [story: chap: Matthew Sumner: hb/]
- The Pilgrim of a Smile (London: Chapman and Hall, 1933) [omni assembling the above two: Matthew Sumner: hb/]
individual titles
- Perhaps: A Tale of To-morrow (London: Methuen and Company, 1914) [no clear evidence that this title was officially released: hb/]
- Yesterday: A Tory Fairy-Tale (London: Chapman and Hall, 1924) [rev vt of the above: hb/Monckton]
- Babylon and Daylight (London: Chapman and Hall, 1927) [hb/Norman Davey]
- Judgment Day (London: Constable, 1928) [hb/]
- Pagan Parable: An Allegory in Four Acts (London: Grayson and Grayson, 1936) [hb/J Abbey]
- The Ghost of a Rose (London: Chapman and Hall, 1939) [hb/]
links
previous versions of this entry