Tales from Gavagan's Bar is a collection of short stories by science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 authors L. Sprague de Camp

L. Sprague de Camp

Lyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...

 and Fletcher Pratt

Fletcher Pratt

Murray Fletcher Pratt was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and history, particularly noted for his works on naval history and on the American Civil War.- Life and work :...

, illustrated by the latter's wife Inga Pratt. It was first published in hardcover by Twayne Publishers in 1953; an expanded edition retaining the original illustrations was published by Owlswick Press in 1978 and subsequently issued in paperback (without the illustrations) by Bantam Books

Bantam Books

Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...

 in 1980. An E-book

E-book

An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...

 edition was published by Gollancz

Victor Gollancz Ltd

Victor Gollancz Ltd was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century. It was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz and specialised in the publication of high quality literature, nonfiction and popular fiction, including science fiction. Upon Gollancz's death in 1967, ownership...

's SF Gateway imprint on September 29, 2011 as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form. The pieces were originally published between 1950 and 1954, mostly in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a digest-size American fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House and then by Fantasy House. Both were subsidiaries of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Publications, which took over as publisher in 1958. Spilogale, Inc...

.

The Gavagan's Bar stories fall into the genre of barroom tall tales, though in this instance most of the tall tales turn out to be true, or at least possibly true. The authors patterned them after Lord Dunsany

Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany was an Irish writer and dramatist, notable for his work, mostly in fantasy, published under the name Lord Dunsany...

's "Jorkens" stories. The Gavagan's stories are widely considered classics.

Contents

Contents of the original edition:

• "The Gift of God"
• "Corpus Delectable"
• "The Better Mousetrap"
• "Elephas Frumenti"
• "Beasts of Bourbon"
• "The Love-Nest"
• "The Stone of the Sages"
• "Where To, Please?"
• "The Palimpsest of St. Augustine"
• "More Than Skin Deep"
• "No Forwarding Address"
• "When the Night Wind Howls" (retitled "Methought I Heard a Voice" in the expanded edition)
• "My Brother's Keeper"
• "A Dime Brings You Success"
• "The Rape of the Lock"
• "All That Glitters"
• "Here, Putzi!"
• "Gin Comes in Bottles"
• "The Black Ball"
• "The Green Thumb"
• "Caveat Emptor"
• "The Eve of St. John"
• "The Ancestral Amethyst"

Added in the expanded edition:

• "The Untimely Toper"
• "Oh, Say! Can You See?"
• "Bell, Book, and Candle"
• "There'd Be Thousands in It"
• "One Man's Meat"
• "The Weissenbroch Spectacles"
• "By and About" (afterword)

Continuations

According to de Camp, he and Pratt envisioned at least one more Gavagan's Bar story, about a vampire with a sweet tooth, which was never written due to Pratt's early death.

While L. Sprague de Camp never continued the series on his own, an additional Gavagan's Bar story authored by Michael F. Flynn, "The Ensorcelled ATM", appeared in Harry Turtledove

Harry Turtledove

Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...

's 2005 tribute anthology honoring de Camp, The Enchanter Completed

The Enchanter Completed: A Tribute Anthology for L. Sprague de Camp

The Enchanter Completed: A Tribute Anthology for L. Sprague de Camp is a 2005 gedenkschrift honoring science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp, in the form of an anthology of short stories edited by Harry Turtledove. It was first published in paperback by Baen Books...

. It ties the series in with de Camp's later W. Wilson Newbury

The Purple Pterodactyls

The Purple Pterodactyls is a collection of short stories by science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in hardcover by Phantasia Press in January, 1980, and in paperback by Ace Books in April of the same year...

 stories.

Critical reception

Reviewing the original edition for Galaxy

Galaxy Science Fiction

Galaxy Science Fiction was an American digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1950 to 1980. It was founded by an Italian company, World Editions, which was looking to break in to the American market. World Editions hired as editor H. L...

, Groff Conklin

Groff Conklin

Edward Groff Conklin was a leading science fiction anthologist. He edited 40 anthologies of science fiction, one of mystery stories , wrote books on home improvement and was a freelance writer on scientific subjects as well as a published poet...

 described the stories as "completely enchanting -- wise, mad, fantastic, funny, warmly human and often very moving." P. Schuyler Miller

P. Schuyler Miller

Peter Schuyler Miller was an American science fiction writer and critic.-Life:Miller was raised in New York's Mohawk Valley, which led to a life-long interest in the Iroquois Indians. He pursued this as an amateur archaeologist and a member of the New York State Archaeological Association.He...

 compared the stories to Lord Dunsany's "Jorkens

Joseph Jorkens

Joseph Jorkens, usually referred to simply as Jorkens, is the lead character in over 150 short stories written by the Irish author Lord Dunsany between 1925 and 1957...

" tales.