E. L. Grant Watson Bibliography
Originally Written January 22, 2014
By Scott Givens
E. L. Grant Watson is one of my favorite authors of all time. At some point, this website will contain biographical information, but I am starting with a bibliography. This bibliography is currently incomplete but is a work in progress. (Please email us if you know of any additional titles!)
Published in London unless otherwise noted. American or other editions are not generally listed unless a.) they are all I know, or b.) they have a different title.
If you have any Grant Watson books to sell, I would be happy to consider them for purchase.
Where Bonds Are Loosed.
E. L. Grant Watson.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1918.
Even though this date is later than the next book, it was published first (in the UK.)
The Mainland.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Duckworth, 1917. Published the same year in the U.S. by Knopf.
The first half of this novel is among Grant Watson’s best writing. The second half changes pace and although remaining interesting, it loses the suspense of the first half. The American edition apparently has a preface by Grant Watson (this fact is mentioned in the preface to Deliverance.)
Deliverance.
E. L. Grant Watson.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1920.
A romance set in England. One of his weakest novels. Knopf made uniform bindings of Mainland, Deliverance, Other Magic, Desert Horizon. Red cloth with black decoration and gilt lettering, two edges uncut, top fore edge black. Desert Horizon is unique with patterned endpapers (same motif as spine & cover), and red decoration on title page (though design is same as previous titles.) Where Bonds Are Loosed has the same pattern on the boards, but with green cloth and navy blue ink.
The Other Magic, a Romance of the Tropics.
E. L. Grant Watson.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1921.
I assume this is an American version of the following.
Shadow and Sunlight: A Romance of the Tropics.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Jonathan Cape, 1921.
The Desert Horizon.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Jonathan Cape, 1923.
Alfred A. Knopf, 1923.
Innocent Desires.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Jonathan Cape, 1924.
A collection of short stories, some of which are excellent, and some of which have been incorporated into other books by ELGW. This contains:
Out There (his first published story; originally published in 1913 [The English Review, December 1913, pp. 85-101].)
The Case of Sir Reginald James Farquarson
Man and Brute
The Cave of Corycus
The Mediator
Boy and Girl
The Diamond
Black Wedgwood
White and Yellow
A Raison d’Etre
Gnilgie
A Farewell
The Last Straw
Friend and Neighbour
English Country.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Jonathan Cape, 1924.
A beautiful book of nature writing, consisting of essays written during the course of a year, and arranged by seasons. Here, Grant Watson fully expresses his sometimes-mystical appreciation of the natural world, amidst essays which are otherwise poignant, challenging, and/or fascinating bits of natural history.
Moods of Earth and Sky.
E. L. Grant Watson.
New York: Boni & Liveright, 1924
I have not yet seen a copy of this, but I suspect it may be the American printing of English Country.
The Contracting Circle.
E. L. Grant Watson.
New York: Boni & Liveright, 1925.
Daimon.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Moses: The Lord of the Prophets.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Thornton Butterworth, 1929.
Published as A Prophet and His God: the Story of Moses in New York, H. Liveright: 1930.
The first of Grant Watson’s biblical novels. This one centers not on the usual Moses story, but on his leading the tribes through the wilderness. Beautifully done.
With the Australian Aborigines.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by Harry W. Whanslaw.
George Philip and Son, Ltd., 1930.
This is actually a book in the Philips “New-Prospect” Reader series. At 71 pages long, it gives a simple but interesting account of the aborigine’s customs and beliefs; it includes some accounts which turn up in ELGW’s stories.
Moonlight in Ur, a Romance.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Noel Douglas, 1932.
The Common Earth.
E. L. Grant Watson.
J. M. Dent & Sons, 1932.
Essays.
The Partners
under pseudonym “John Lovegood”
Victor Gollancz, 1933.
Published in the U.S. as: Lost Man!
E. L. Grant Watson.
New York: Harper & Bros, 1934.
If you’re going to read one novel by Grant Watson, this is the one to read.
It’s up to You.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Noel Douglas, 1933.
The Nun and the Bandit.
E. L. Grant Watson.
The Cresset Press, 1935.
Excellent novel, second only to Lost Man! Reissued several times. Australian movie based on this book.
Enigmas of Natural History.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by Barbara Greg.
The Cresset Press, 1936.
Published in the U.S. as “Mysteries of …” by Frederick A. Stokes, 1937.
More Enigmas of Natural History.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by Barbara Greg.
The Cresset Press, 1937
A Mighty Man of Valour.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Duckworth, 1939
One of Grant Watson’s two novels centering on a Biblical personage. Very good.
Man and His Universe.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Hutchinson & Co., 1940
Publisher’s blurb: “Mr. Grant-Watson, author of the popular Enigmas of Natural History, and a series of successful novels, writes brilliantly and with much subtle penetration on that absorbing subject of man’s place and function in the universe. Discussing in these pages with the man in the street such questions as behavourism, perceptual ability, the consciousness of animals, the evolution controversy, of Hitler and Stalin, religion and imagination, he achieves a volume which is worthy of his wide reputation as a lecturer in the same field.”
Priest Island.
E. L. Grant Watson.
New York: Smith & Durrell, 1941.
Nature Abounding.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by C(harles). F. Tunnicliffe.
Faber & Faber, 1941.
This is an interesting collection of nature essays, edited by Grant Watson with several of his own pieces included.
Walking with Fancy.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Country Life, 1944.
But to What Purpose: The Autobiography of a Contemporary.
E. L. Grant Watson.
The Cresset Press, 1946.
Essays written during the war, and published just after the war. A very interesting memoir by the author which includes details on his experiences as a writer.
The Leaves Return.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by C(harles). F. Tunnicliffe.
Country Life, 1947.
Wonders of Natural History.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by Barbara Greg.
Pleiades Books, 1947.
An omnibus of Enigmas and More Enigmas.
Departures.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by John O’Connor.
Pleiades Books, 1948.
Profitable Wonders: Some Problems of Plant and Animal Life.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by C(harles). F. Tunnicliffe.
Country Life, 1949.
What to Look for in Spring (Ladybird series 536.
What to Look for in Summer (Ladybird series 536.
What to Look for in Autumn (Ladybird series 536.
What to Look for in Winter (Ladybird series 536, no. 7).
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by C(harles). F. Tunnicliffe.
Wills & Hepworth, 1959
The Mystery of Physical Life.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Preface by Owen Barfield, foreword by Ralph Twentyman, illustrated by Charles Tunnicliffe.
Abelard-Schuman, 1964.
Animals in Splendour.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Illustrated by Sven Berlin.
John Baker, 1967.
Journey Under the Stars.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Abelard-Schuman, 1968.
A fascinating memoir of his early career in Australia, written by the mature man.
Descent of Spirit.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Anthology compiled by Dorothy Green.
Sydney: Primavera Press, 1990.
In addition to books, ELGW wrote many essays on topics ranging from literary criticism to the sciences. I am just starting to catalogue these. He also delivered several speeches, both on the radio and before audiences. Again, I have just begun this research I have, however, discovered one off-print of a lecture delivered at the Conference of the Guild of Pastoral Psychology at Bristol, July, 1954. Never one to stray from his twin interests, natural history, and spirituality, Grant Watson gives detailed examples of instinct in nature and relates it to God and man’s search for Him. (He peppers his speech with quotes from cutting-edge scientists, philosophers, Goethe, the Bible, Rudolph Steiner, etc.) “The biology of the future, should it develop along these lines, will be the discovery of co-respondences; and it may be that the instinctive life of lower animals, where instinct is so accurate and confined, so perfect and limited in expression, is but a reflection of the unconscious, as yet unknown, physiological functions of men, also a part-reflection of a greater spiritual imagination, of which poets have been dimly aware.”
Articles thus far discovered:
“Moby-Dick” (1920) (Probably his most-cited work.) [London Mercury]
“My Own Country” (1924) [Golden Hind, Vol. 2, No. 6, Jan 1924]
“Evolution and Creation” (1951)
“The Hidden Heart of Nature” (1961) [Saturday Evening Post, May 27, 1961]
Finally, there have been articles written about Grant Watson. More scholarship is devoted to him now than during his life. I will start by listing contemporary scholarship, as it is more difficult to locate:
“The Australian Novels of E. L. Grant Watson” by Frederick T. Macartney. (1957) In Australian Literary Essays. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1957.
