STRAWS and
PRAYER-BOOKS

BOOKS by MR. CABELL

Biography:

Beyond Life

Figures of Earth

Domnei

Chivalry

Jurgen

The Line of Love

The High Place

Gallantry

The Certain Hour

The Cords of Vanity

From the Hidden Way

The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck

The Eagle's Shadow

The Cream of the Jest

Straws and Prayer-Books

Scholia:

The Lineage of Lichfield

Taboo

The Jewel Merchants

——

Jurgen and the Law

(Edited by Guy Holt)

STRAWS AND
PRAYER-BOOKS

Dizain des Diversions

By

JAMES BRANCH CABELL

"Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law,
Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw....
Scarfs, garters, gold, amuse his riper stage,
And beads and prayer-books are the toys of age."

ROBERT M. McBRIDE & COMPANY

NEW YORK : : : : : : 1924

Copyright, 1924, by
James Branch Cabell

Printed in the
United States of America

Third Edition

Published, 1924

To

BALLARD HARTWELL CABELL

is dedicated whatever may be of worth in this
volume, or elsewhere in the Biography.

Contents

The Author of Jurgen[3]
IA Note on Alcoves[25]
IIThe Way of Wizardry[49]
IIIMinions of the Moon[79]
IVThe Thin Queen of Elfhame[123]
VCelestial Architecture[139]
VIRomantics About Them[171]
VIIDiversions of the Anchorite[193]
VIIIThe Delta of Radegonde[225]
IXA Theme With Variations[239]
XFlaws in the Spur[267]
The Author of The Eagle's Shadow[285]