Collins White Circle Authors Part VIII - Merrill Denison

Merrill Denison was a Canadian playwright, novelist and author of business histories. The linked biography mentions his mother, Flora MacDonald Denison, but doesn't note that she was an author as well. Thanks to Brian Busby at The Dusty Bookcase for this link to Mrs. Denison's biography.

Mrs. Denison's book, Mary Melville, The Psychic, was published in 1900 by The Austin Publishing Co. Limited of Toronto. Mary Melville comes with both an introduction and a foreword. The story is described as "thinly disguised fiction". A couple of paragraphs from the foreword will give a sense of the tone of the book:

"To readers [who fail to recognize the possible truth of "Mary Melville, The Psychic"] we would say that the marvelous features of the story .. find abundant illustration and confirmation in the Bible and in the attested experiences of patient and careful scientific investigators of our own age.

"They form the basic facts in the origin of all religions, the so-called miracles being resolvable ... into manifestations of psychic power in strictest accord with law, however arbitrary they may appear to the ignorant."

Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada Ltd. published two of her son's books in their White Circle line. The first, Harvest Triumphant, is a history of Massey-Harris. As described in an earlier post this book was outside of the main White Circle series. The other WC is Klondike Mike, first published by William Morrow in 1943.

White Circle CD 431 - 1949

White Circle CD 431 back

Two Odd-Ball Collins White Circles

I've mentioned in a couple of posts that Wm. Collins Sons & Co. Canada Ltd. published 459 of their White Circle imprint. This is the number they published in their consecutively numbered series that ended with number 545 (actually C.D. 545X). However Collins also published two other paperbacks with the White Circle name that were not part of this series.

The first is a real odd-ball. Dear Sir; by Juliet Lowell was a collection of letters written my Americans during WWII. It was published in the US in 1944 in hardcover and paperback. Then, as S4, by Collins in 1945. It is described on the front cover as "A White Circle Pocket Edition" and has ads for other White Circles. But the publisher is North Star which was an imprint of Collins (see post of October 22). Collins isn't mentioned in the book. Collins also published Dear Sir; as a hardback without any reference to White Circle on the front cover.

Below is the White Circle edition and the American paperback edition published by Eagle Books of New York.

The second odd-ball is Harvest Triumphant by Merrill Denison, published in 1949 as a paperback original. This book is described as a White Circle on the cover and inside. The title and copyright pages are identical to other 1949 White Circles in the numbered series. The only difference is the book is not numbered. There is an interesting connection, perhaps coincidental, with the numbered series. The only other Denison White Circle is 431, Klondike Mike, published in 1949 as well. White Circle 430 does not exist. Perhaps Harvest Triumphant was intended to be 430 but the number removed before publishing.