Editing Perceval Landon

{{Short description|English writer, traveller and journalist}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
[[Image:Perceval Landon (cropped).jpg|thumb|Perceval Landon in May 1919.]]
[[Image:Ralph, Landon, Gwynne and Kipling 1900-1901.jpg|thumb|300px|Landon, second from the right, in hat.]]'''Perceval Landon''' (1869–1927) was an English writer, traveller and journalist, now best remembered for his classic and much reprinted [[ghost story]] "Thurnley Abbey".

==Family==
Perceval Landon was born in [[Hastings]] on 29 March 1869.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Foster|first1=Joseph|title=Oxford Men and their Colleges 1880–1892|date=1893|publisher=J. Parker|location=Oxford|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Oxford_men_and_their_colleges.djvu/719|accessdate=27 February 2017}}</ref> He was the son of the Rev. Edward Henry Landon and his wife, Caroline.<ref>{{cite book|title=Who Was Who|publisher=A&C Black|ref=s.v. Perceval Landon}}</ref> His first name was the surname of his mother, daughter of the Rev. and Hon. [[Arthur Philip Perceval]], through whom he was collaterally related to [[Spencer Perceval]].  His own family of Landon was of French [[Huguenot]] descent, having migrated to London in the 1680s at the time of the revocation of the [[Edict of Nantes]].

==Life and career==
He was educated at [[Forest School, Walthamstow|Forest School]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Foster|first1=Joseph|title=Oxford Men and their Colleges 1880–1892|date=1893|publisher=J. Parker|location=Oxford|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Oxford_men_and_their_colleges.djvu/719|accessdate=27 February 2017}}</ref> and [[Hertford College]], [[Oxford]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Who Was Who|publisher=A&C Black|ref=s.v. Perceval Landon}}</ref> He matriculated in October 1888, obtained Third Class Honours in Classical Moderations in 1890, and graduated with Third Class Honours in Law in 1892.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Foster|first1=Joseph|title=Oxford Men and their Colleges 1880–1892|date=1893|publisher=J. Parker|location=Oxford|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Oxford_men_and_their_colleges.djvu/719|accessdate=27 February 2017}}</ref> While at Oxford, he was one of the original subscribers to John Woodward and George Burnett's ''Treatise on Heraldry British and Foreign'' (1892), and he had a lifelong interest in [[heraldry]]. He was Secretary of the [[Oxford Union]] in 1891.<ref>{{cite IBD1915|wstitle= Landon, Perceval |volume= 13.1 |page= 245 |year=1915|short=1}}</ref>  

He was called to the Bar by the [[Inner Temple]] but in 1899–1900 he was War Correspondent of ''[[The Times]]'' during the [[South African War]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Who Was Who|publisher=A&C Black|ref=s.v. Perceval Landon}}</ref> He was also involved, with his close and lifelong friend [[Rudyard Kipling]] and others, in a daily paper called ''The Friend''<ref>{{cite book|title=Who Was Who|publisher=A&C Black|ref=s.v. Perceval Landon}}</ref> started by [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]] in [[Bloemfontein]] during the [[Boer War]]. This South African experience launched a career of world travel, journalism, and other writing, so that he described himself in ''Who's Who'' as ''"special correspondent, dramatist, and author"''.

At a meeting of the Royal Society of Arts in 1915, [[George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston|Lord Curzon of Kedleston]], former [[Viceroy]] of [[India]], described Landon as "''a writer of exceptional ability on Eastern and other questions''" and "''an authority second to none on the geography and politics of what was commonly called the Middle East''."<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Arts|date=23 April 1915|volume=63|page=505|title=Proceedings of the Society}}</ref>

His best known non-fiction work is ''The opening of Tibet'' (1905), which he wrote after joining the [[British expedition to Tibet]] in 1903–1904; the book is subtitled "''an account of Lhasa and the country and people of central Tibet and of the progress of the mission sent there by the English government in the year 1903-4''". In this book, Landon was one of the first Europeans to describe the holy city of [[Lhasa]] in detail.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Valentine|first1=Mark|title=Perceval Landon: A Book of Shadows|url=http://wormwoodiana.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/perceval-landon-book-of-shadows.html|website=Wormwoodiana|date=7 June 2012 |accessdate=9 June 2016}}</ref>

He was also the author of a book of 13 original short stories, ''Raw Edges'', published by William Heinemann, London, in 1908, with lithograph illustrations by Alberto Martini. The most successful and enduring of these stories was ''Thurnley Abbey''; but also included were psychological suspense stories ''Railhead'' and ''The Gyroscope'' (which is about a horrifying juggernaut running amok in a crowded auditorium).

Landon was private secretary to the Governor of [[New South Wales]] [[William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp]], 1900.<ref>{{cite book|title=Who Was Who|publisher=A&C Black|ref=s.v. Perceval Landon}}</ref> In 1898 he and Beauchamp had holidayed in Paris. In 1903 he was special correspondent of the [[Daily Mail]] at the [[Delhi Durbar]], in China, in Japan and in [[Siberia]]; in 1903–1904 he was special correspondent of ''The Times'' on the [[British expedition to Tibet|British military expedition]] to [[Lhasa]], Tibet; in 1905–1906 he was special correspondent of ''The Times'' for the [[George V of the United Kingdom#Prince of Wales|Prince of Wales]]' visit to India; and after that he was in [[Persia]], [[India]], and [[Nepal]], 1908; [[Russian Turkestan]] 1909; [[Egypt]] and [[Sudan]] 1910; on the [[North-East Frontier Agency|North Eastern Frontier of India]] and at the Delhi Durbar, 1911; in [[Mesopotamia]] and [[Syria]], 1912; in [[Scandinavia]] and [[World War I|behind the British and French lines]] in 1914–1915; behind the Italian lines and to the Vatican in 1917 (the war and Vatican visits with Kipling<ref>[[Charles Carrington (British Army officer)|Carrington, C. E.]] ([http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/carrington.htm Charles Edmund]), (1955) ''The life of Rudyard Kipling'', Garden City, N.Y.: [[Doubleday & Co.]], pp. 336, 345.</ref>); at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919]]; in [[Constantinople]], 1920; in India, [[British Mandate of Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]], [[Syria]], and [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] 1921; on the [[Edward VIII of the United Kingdom#Prince of Wales|Prince of Wales]]' tour of India and Japan, 1921–1922; in China and North America 1922; at the [[Treaty of Lausanne|Peace Conference in Lausanne]], 1923; in China, Nepal and Egypt 1924; and in China in 1925<ref>{{cite book|title=Who Was Who|publisher=A&C Black|ref=s.v. Perceval Landon}}</ref> (source except where noted: ''Who Was Who'').

By this time, in 1925, Landon was 57 and had travelled constantly since the age of 21. Landon from 1912 had the use of Keylands, a cottage in the grounds of Kipling's house, [[Batemans]], in [[Sussex]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ricketts|first1=Harry|authorlink = Harry Ricketts |title=The Unforgiving Minute – A Life of Rudyard Kipling|date=1999|publisher=Chatto & Windus|location=London|page=335}}</ref> His London residence was, from 1907, at [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]] Place, [[St James's]], and, by the time of his death in 1927, his final address (from ''Who's Who'') was 1 The Studios, Gunter Grove, [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], London.<ref>{{cite book|title=Who Was Who|publisher=A&C Black|ref=s.v. Perceval Landon}}</ref>

On 22 January 1927, his old friend [[Rudyard Kipling]] wrote to his former employer [[William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp|Lord Beauchamp]] saying Landon had ''"crocked badly"'', blaming ''"exposure and over-work"''. He asked Beauchamp to ''"keep a kindly eye on him"'' while Kipling was sailing to South America and added, in a postscript, ''"If when he gets better, he has to go on a milk and egg diet, you could see that he gets good country stuff. I can't arrange this from my farms, in my absence."''<ref>{{cite book|editor-last1=Pinney|editor-first1=Thomas|title=The Letters of Rudyard Kipling, Volume 5 (1920–1930)|date=2014|publisher=University of Iowa Press|isbn=978-0877458982|page=[https://archive.org/details/lettersofrudyard0000kipl/page/334 334]|url=https://archive.org/details/lettersofrudyard0000kipl/page/334}}</ref>

But Landon died, a day later, on 23 January 1927. He was unmarried.

Kipling was too upset to go to the funeral, but his poem ''A Song in the Desert'' ''"was a lament for a friend he had loved"''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lycett|first1=Andrew|title=Rudyard Kipling|date=1999|publisher=Hachette, UK|page=453}}</ref> The poem is dedicated: "P. L. OB. JAN. 1927".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kipling|first1=Rudyard|title=A Song in the Desert|url=http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/song_in_desert.html|website=Poetry Lovers Page|accessdate=22 March 2016}}</ref> The Kipling Society says it reflects ''"his many travels in the wild places of the world, his uncomplaining endurance of dangers and discomforts, his magical tales, lightly told, and his shrewd criticism of Kipling's own work"''.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Song in the Desert – notes by John McGivering and John Radcliffe|url=http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/rg_songindesert1.htm|website=The Kipling Society|accessdate=8 September 2016}}</ref>

==Thurnley Abbey==
Landon's [[ghost story]] ''Thurnley Abbey'' was originally published in 1908 in his book ''Raw Edges''.  It is reprinted in many modern anthologies, including ''The 2nd Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories'', ''The Penguin Book of Horror Stories'' and ''[[The Dark Horse Book of Hauntings]]''. It is reminiscent of the stories of [[M.R. James]], who himself called it "almost too horrid".<ref>[http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/ArchiveMRJLetter.html "An M.R. James Letter"]. Introduced and Annotated by Jack Adrian. ''Ghosts & Scholars'' magazine, Volume 8. Retrieved 18 August 2019.</ref> According to Neil Wilson, it ''"is ranked by some as one of the greatest ghost stories ever written. Landon's achievement is all the more impressive because of his use of well-worn subject matter. The tale's masterful development of atmosphere is a model of how even clichéd material can be given a new lease of life in the hands of a skilled writer."''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Neil|title=Shadows in the Attic: A Guide to Supernatural Fiction, 1820–1950|date=2000|page=309}}</ref> [[Ramsey Campbell]] called the story "That most terrifying of English ghost stories". He reprinted it in his anthology ''Fine Frights: Stories That Scared Me'' (NT: Tor Books, 1988)

A man named Alastair Colvin is travelling on a boat with the narrator, and asks the narrator if he can sleep in his cabin, even though he has his own. The narrator is surprised by this but Colvin then narrates his tale which involves his travelling to Thurnley Abbey, recently inherited by Colvin's friend, John Broughton, who has recently taken ownership of the old abbey. A Mr. Clarke, the old retainer who had lived at the Abbey for many years, is reputed to have put about that a ghost haunts the Abbey, and seemed to have delighted in the fear that this had caused. Locals believe it, and though the new owner makes light of it, he seems not to be entirely convinced that it is not true, and after arranging for Colvin to stay overnight, asks him to "talk to it" <ref>{{cite web|url=http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/thurnley.htm|title=THURNLEY ABBEY|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050324074840/http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/gaslight/thurnley.htm|archivedate=24 March 2005|df=dmy-all}}</ref> if he sees a ghost.  Colvin spends the night in the house and encounters the ghost – an experience which changes his life. Henceforth he is afraid to sleep alone.

''Raw Edges'' also included the ghost story "Mrs Rivers's Journal" which [[Hugh Lamb (journalist)|Hugh Lamb]] has reprinted in his anthologies ''Gaslight Nightmares 2'' and "Gaslit Horror".

==Medals==

In 2015, a group of 7 medals awarded to Landon on various occasions was offered for sale by [[Dix Noonan Webb]] (auctioneers of Bolton Street, Piccadilly, London), catalogued as: "A fine and important campaign group of six awarded to Perceval Landon", consisting of (1) Queen's South Africa Medal [Boer War] 1899–1902, officially impressed with ''Mr. P. Landon. "Times"''; (2) Tibet 1903–04 Medal, officially engraved with ''P. Landon Esq: Press Corspdt.''; (3)-(5) 1914–15 Star Trio of medals ''P. Landon.'' (First World War; consisting of the 1914–15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal);<ref>{{cite web|title=A Guide to British Campaign Medals of WW1|url=http://www.greatwar.co.uk/medals/ww1-campaign-medals.htm|website=The Great War 1914–1918|accessdate=9 June 2016}}</ref> (6) Coronation Medal 1911, unnamed, together with, (7), a separate Royal Society of Arts Silver Prize Medal, G.V.R., 55mm, the edge inscribed ''Perceval Landon, for his paper on "Basra and the Shatt-Ul-Arab" Session 1914–15''.<ref>{{cite web|title=ORDERS, DECORATIONS AND MEDALS Sale Date 12 May 2015 10&nbsp;am|url=http://www.the-saleroom.com/it-it/auction-catalogues/dixnoonanwebb/catalogue-id-dix-no10006/lot-0634f838-7e5a-4ec3-bd71-a480010ae497|website=The Saleroom|accessdate=9 June 2016|ref=Lot 553}}</ref>

==Publications==
As well as his journalism, Landon published the following books:

*''Heliotropes, or New Posies for Sundials'', written in an old book partly in English and partly in Latin (1908)
*[https://archive.org/details/openingoftibetac00landrich ''The opening of Tibet; an account of Lhasa and the country and people of central Tibet and of the progress of the mission sent there by the English government in the year 1903-4'' (1905)] [http://library.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/read/opentibet.pdf]
*''Lhasa'', v. I and II (1905)<ref>{{cite journal|title=''Review of'' Lhasa by ''Perceval Landon'', 2 vols.|journal=The Athenaeum |issue=4035|date=February 25, 1905|pages=231–232|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MW0vAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA231}}</ref>
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=ckgoAAAAYAAJ ''Under the Sun: impressions of Indian cities''] (1906)<ref>{{cite journal|title=Review of ''Under the Sun; Impressions of Indian Cities'' by Perceval Landon|journal=Journal of the Royal Colonial Institute|date=February 1907|issue=3, Session 1906–1907|page=195|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eDo4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA195}}</ref>
*''1857, The Story of the Indian Mutiny'' (1907)
*''Raw Edges; studies and stories of these days'' (1908)
*''For the Soul of the King'' (translated from the French, 1909)
*''The House Opposite'' (play; produced at the Queen's Theatre, London, 1910)
*''Nepal'' (1928).
*Percival Landon's History of Nepal

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Librivox author |id=11548}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landon, Perceval}}
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1927 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford]]
[[Category:English male journalists]]
[[Category:English writers]]
[[Category:Newar studies scholars]]