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    Flaxman Low

    Occult Detective

    Part of MIT Press / Radium Age

    Author E. and H. Heron
    Introduction by Alexander B. Joy
    Edited by Alexander B. Joy
    Ebook
    The MIT Press
    On sale Mar 10, 2026 | 260 Pages | 9780262051668
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    The weird—and weirdly delightful—adventures of fiction’s first occult detective.

    Flaxman Low, literature’s first professional, full-time “occult detective”—that is, an intrepid investigator who deploys the scientific method when tackling paranormal phenomena—appeared in a dozen stories first published from 1898–1899. His creators, the mother-and-son team Kate O’Brien Ryall Prichard and Hesketh “Hex” Prichard (who published as “E. and H. Heron”), endowed the Oxford-trained psychologist with the bravery and acumen to tackle every sort of adversary from ghosts, mummies, and vampires to a mushroom mannequin. Both less credulous and less cynical than earlier fictional investigators of the spirit world, Low always triumphs in the end . . . but not before scientifically demonstrating that even the most outré incidents and situations can’t hold a candle to the bizarre capacities of the human mind.
    Table of Contents:
    Series Foreword
    Joshua Glenn
    Introduction: All Is Natural
    Alexander B. Joy
    Introduction
    The Story of “The Spaniards,” Hammersmith
    The Story of Medhans Lea
    The Story of the Moor Road
    The Story of Baelbrow
    The Story of the Grey House
    The Story of Yand Manor House
    The Story of Sevens Hall
    The Story of Saddler’s Croft
    The Story of No. 1 Karma Crescent
    The Story of Konnor Old House
    The Story of Crowsedge
    The Story of Mr. Flaxman Low
    E. and H. Heron was a collective pseudonym used by the English writers Hesketh Prichard (1876–1922) and his mother, Kate O’Brien Ryall Prichard (1851–1935). “Hex” was an explorer, cricketer, naturalist, soldier, and travel writer. Kate, also an intrepid globetrotter, voyaged with her son to many remote locations; Rio Caterina, in Patagonia, is named after her. In addition to creating Flaxman Low, one of the first modern occult detectives in fiction, the duo wrote stories about Captain Rallywood and Don Q.

    Alexander B. Joy earned a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the author of Legend of the River King.
    E. and H. Heron View titles by E. and H. Heron

    About

    The weird—and weirdly delightful—adventures of fiction’s first occult detective.

    Flaxman Low, literature’s first professional, full-time “occult detective”—that is, an intrepid investigator who deploys the scientific method when tackling paranormal phenomena—appeared in a dozen stories first published from 1898–1899. His creators, the mother-and-son team Kate O’Brien Ryall Prichard and Hesketh “Hex” Prichard (who published as “E. and H. Heron”), endowed the Oxford-trained psychologist with the bravery and acumen to tackle every sort of adversary from ghosts, mummies, and vampires to a mushroom mannequin. Both less credulous and less cynical than earlier fictional investigators of the spirit world, Low always triumphs in the end . . . but not before scientifically demonstrating that even the most outré incidents and situations can’t hold a candle to the bizarre capacities of the human mind.

    Table of Contents

    Table of Contents:
    Series Foreword
    Joshua Glenn
    Introduction: All Is Natural
    Alexander B. Joy
    Introduction
    The Story of “The Spaniards,” Hammersmith
    The Story of Medhans Lea
    The Story of the Moor Road
    The Story of Baelbrow
    The Story of the Grey House
    The Story of Yand Manor House
    The Story of Sevens Hall
    The Story of Saddler’s Croft
    The Story of No. 1 Karma Crescent
    The Story of Konnor Old House
    The Story of Crowsedge
    The Story of Mr. Flaxman Low

    Author

    E. and H. Heron was a collective pseudonym used by the English writers Hesketh Prichard (1876–1922) and his mother, Kate O’Brien Ryall Prichard (1851–1935). “Hex” was an explorer, cricketer, naturalist, soldier, and travel writer. Kate, also an intrepid globetrotter, voyaged with her son to many remote locations; Rio Caterina, in Patagonia, is named after her. In addition to creating Flaxman Low, one of the first modern occult detectives in fiction, the duo wrote stories about Captain Rallywood and Don Q.

    Alexander B. Joy earned a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the author of Legend of the River King.
    E. and H. Heron View titles by E. and H. Heron

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