Plum Stones

Plum Stones (subtitled The Hidden P. G. Wodehouse) is a set of 12 volumes of uncollected short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. All 25 stories were previously published in magazines, but not published in book form in the UK. The volumes were published posthumously between 1993 and 1995 in the UK by Galahad Books. The first two volumes were published in 1993, the following six in 1994, and last four in 1995.[1]

Plum Stones
AuthorP. G. Wodehouse
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreShort stories
Published1993 (omnibus edition)
1993–1995 (volumes)

Each volume is a short booklet, with commentary on the stories by Tony Ring. The stories were printed in a limited edition with the permission of the Trustees of the Wodehouse Estate. The first sixteen sets were issued as an omnibus edition, published in 1993.[2]

Volumes

Wodehouse, Detective Writer

First volume, 64 pages.

"Mr McGee's Big Day" was six pages long in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. For comparison, another Wodehouse story, "Strychnine in the Soup", was fifteen pages long when published in Ellery Queen in 1952.[3]

Unrepublished Reggie Pepper

Second volume, 76 pages. All three stories feature the early Wodehouse character Reggie Pepper.

  • "Disentangling Old Percy"
    • US: Collier's, 30 March 1912 (as "Disentangling Old Duggie")
    • UK: Strand, August 1912 (source for this book)
  • "Concealed Art"
    • UK: Strand, February 1915 (source for this book)
    • US: Pictorial Review, July 1915
  • "The Test Case" (also in The Uncollected Wodehouse)
    • UK: Pearson's, December 1915
    • US: Illustrated Sunday Magazine, 12 December 1915 (source for this book)

Theatrical Stories

Third volume, 64 pages.

  • "The Colour Line"
    • US: McClure's, March/April 1920 (as "The Golden Flaw")
    • UK: Grand, April 1920 (source for this book)

Under the title "The Golden Flaw", the story was published in McClure's with illustrations by Arthur William Brown.[4]

  • "Back to the Garage"
    • UK: Strand, July 1929 (source for this book)
    • US: Cosmopolitan, July 1929 (as "Franklin's Favorite Daughter")

"Franklin's Favorite Daughter" was illustrated by David Robinson in Cosmopolitan.[5] In the Strand, "Back to the Garage" was illustrated by S. Abbey.[6]

Keggs, the Butler

Fourth volume, 36 pages.

  • "Love Me, Love My Dog"
    • US: Hampton's, July 1920 (as "The Watch Dog", also published in Home in August 1931 as "A Dog-Eared Romance" and Green Book in August 1933 as "The Watch Dog")
    • UK: Strand, August 1910 (as "Love Me, Love My Dog."; source for this book)

"Watch Dog" was illustrated by Phillips Ward in Hampton's Magazine.[7] "Love Me, Love My Dog" was illustrated by Harry Rountree in the Strand.[8]

First Impressions, Mature Reflections

Fifth volume, 52 pages.

  • "A Job of Work"
    • UK: Strand, January 1913 (source for this book)
    • US: Collier's, 6 September 1913

The story was illustrated by E. H. Shepard in the Strand,[9] and by John Sloan in Collier's.[10]

  • "Ways to Get a Gal" (contains plot elements previously used in "Ahead of Schedule", collected in The Man Upstairs)
    • US: Dream World, February 1957

The story was illustrated by "R. L. S." in Dream World, a Chicago-based magazine.[11]

There But For the Grace of God Goes Baxter

Sixth volume, 28 pages.

  • "Creatures of Impulse" (later rewritten as "The Crime Wave at Blandings")
    • UK: Strand, October 1914 (source for this book)
    • US: McClure's, October 1914

Self-Derivatives Par Excellence

Seventh volume, 60 pages.

  • "Big Business" (later rewritten as a Mr Mulliner story)
    • US: Collier's, 13 December 1952
    • UK: Lilliput, March 1953 (source for this book)
  • "Joy Bells for Barmy" (contains plot elements taken from "Dudley Is Back to Normal", and some reused in "The Right Approach" and Barmy in Wonderland)
    • UK: Carnival, November 1946 (as "A Wedding Has Been Arranged")
    • US: Cosmopolitan, October 1947 (source for this book)
  • "The Right Approach" (contains plot elements taken from "Joy Bells for Barmy", later rewritten as a Mr Mulliner story)
    • UK: Lilliput, September 1958 (as a Mulliner story, collected in A Few Quick Ones)
    • US: Playboy, January 1959 (source for this book, substantially revised from 1958 version)

Bertie's Friends

Eighth volume, 44 pages. The first story features Bobbie Wickham and the second Bingo Little.

  • "Dudley is Back to Normal" (contains plot elements reused in "Joy Bells for Barmy")
    • UK: Strand, July 1940
  • "The Great Fat Uncle Contest" (also published as "Stylish Stouts")

"In That Shape, Rotten"

Ninth volume, 40 pages.

Ethics and Eugenics

Tenth volume, 52 pages.

  • "A Prisoner of War" (with a character that appears in The Coming of Bill)
    • UK: Strand, March 1915 (source for this book)
    • US: Illustrated Sunday Magazine, 13 February 1916

"A Prisoner of War" was illustrated by Alfred Leete in the Strand.[12]

  • "The Pro" (contains plot elements reused in "The Goal-Keeper and the Plutocrat" in The Man Upstairs)
    • UK: Pearson's, August 1906 (source for this book), and Novel Magazine in August 1907 as "The Pro."

The story was illustrated by W. Heath Robinson in Pearson's.[13]

Wrykyn Havoc

Eleventh volume, 36 pages.

First Drafts

Twelfth volume, 44 pages.

  • "Reginald's Record Knock" (cricket story)
    • UK: Pearson's, July 1909
    • US: Collier's Weekly, 19 March 1910 (as "Archibald's Benefit", a similar golf story collected in The Man Upstairs)
  • "Tom, Dick and Harry" (cricket story, also in The Uncollected Wodehouse)
    • UK: Grand, June 1905 (as "Tom, Dick—and Harry")[1][2]

References
Notes
  1. Midkiff, Neil (3 July 2019). "The Wodehouse short stories". Madame Eulalie. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  2. "Plum Stones—The Hidden P. G. Wodehouse" (PDF). Plum Lines. 14 (3): 14–15. Autumn 1993. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  3. McIlvaine (1990), p. 149, D21.
  4. McIlvaine (1990), p. 152, D38.4.
  5. McIlvaine (1990), p. 148, D17.39.
  6. McIlvaine (1990), p. 185, D133.151.
  7. McIlvaine (1990), p. 150, D28.1
  8. McIlvaine (1990), p. 182, D133.9.
  9. McIlvaine (1990), p. 183, D133.26
  10. McIlvaine (1990), p. 145, D15.8.
  11. McIlvaine (1990), p. 149, D18.1.
  12. Mcilvaine (1990), p. 183, DD133.40.
  13. McIlvaine (1990), p. 175, D118.14.
Sources
  • McIlvaine, Eileen; Sherby, Louise S.; Heineman, James H. (1990). P. G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist. New York: James H. Heineman Inc. ISBN 978-0-87008-125-5.
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