{"product_id":"the-winged-man-or-twix-j-s-mackley-9781917130073","title":"The Winged Man or, 'Twix Midnight And Dawn (1913)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Winged Man; or, 'Twixt Midnight and Dawn (1913)\u003c\/strong\u003e by E. Dudley Tempest marks the last major evolution of the Spring-Heeled Jack myth. First serialised over twenty-eight issues of \u003cem\u003eThe Wonder\u003c\/em\u003e (1913) and here presented as a continuous narrative for the first time, the story transforms the Victorian leaping phantom into an aerial avenger who dominates the skies on the eve of the First World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEdited and introduced by J. S. Mackley, this edition situates \u003cem\u003eThe Winged Man\u003c\/em\u003e as both sequel and reinterpretation of \u003cem\u003eThe Human Bat\u003c\/em\u003e (1899-1901). Its detective, Danby Druce, pursues a brilliant but deranged \"strange genius\" whose mechanical wings and sense of divine retribution embody the tensions of modernity: empire, technology, and the moral cost of progress. Drawing on Gothic melodrama, crime fiction, and early science-fantasy, the narrative fuses fin-de-siècle paranoia with the thrill of aerial adventure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe extensive introduction traces the character's lineage from \u003cem\u003eSpring-Heeled Jack\u003c\/em\u003e through the penny-dreadful tradition to Edwardian popular culture, exploring how each incarnation mirrored contemporary fears-urban violence, industrialisation, and the loss of moral certainty. The volume also surveys later sightings and impostors, from the 1904 Liverpool \"Leaping Man\" to the 1929 Stockport \"Spring-Heeled Jack Dog-Poisoner,\" showing how the legend mutated across media and decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRichly annotated and sourced from rare British Library copies, \u003cem\u003eThe Winged Man\u003c\/em\u003e completes \u003cem\u003eThe Spring-Heeled Jack Library\u003c\/em\u003e, offering scholars and enthusiasts the definitive conclusion to Britain's most persistent urban legend-a myth that began in the gaslight streets of 1838 and ended, almost eighty years later, among the clouds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e J. S. Mackley,E. Dudley Tempest\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1917130074\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781917130073\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Isengrin Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/01\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 650\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.98lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.21h x 6.14w x 1.31d","brand":"J. S. Mackley","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48659682296063,"sku":"9781917130073","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-winged-man-or-twix-j-s-mackley-9781917130073","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}