H.E. Bates Companion

London: The Scholartis Press, 1929 (November). 167 pp. New York: Viking Press, 1930. Dedication: To Constance Garnett (Bates's presentation copy to Garnett included the inscription: "Who by her poetic genius began to influence my life before I lived; to which genius and to her unfailing friendship no less, this book is a tribute.") In the author's note, Bates mentions the previous publication of "The Barber," "A Tinker's Donkey," "A Comic Actor," "The Child," and "Lanko's White Mare" in serial form and the "considerable changes" that were made to them for book publication.

The New York Times commented that "in dealing with the world of reality, he still has little to do with portraying strong and clear, logical or passionate emotions. He is most at home with elusive sentiments and sensations, with impressions only half understood and half remembered, the emotions of childhood and early adolescence, or of simple-hearted and uninquiring old age." The New Statesman observed that "he has, by seeing with a child's eyes, found a world of marvellous and strange beauty, and has given the smallest shades of change and emotion the magnitude and drama they have in the minds of children and poets."

Reviews:
Nation & Athenaeum (November 30, 1929, attached)
New Statesman (December 28, 1929, attached)
New York Times (October 12, 1930, attached)
Saturday Review of Literature (November 8, 1930, p. 305, Basil Davenport, attached)
The Spectator (November 16, 1929, attached)
Times Literary Supplement, (November 14, 1929, p. 920, attached, Orlo Williams)

Contains: Alexander, The Barber, The Child, A Comic Actor, The Peach-Tree: A Fantasy, A Tinker’s Donkey, The King Who Lived on Air: A Child’s Tale, Lanko’s White Mare.