Herbert Maurice van Thal (1904-1983), better known as Bertie, was a bookseller, publisher, agent, biographer, and anthologist. His grandfather was a distiller (King's Liqueur Whisky), and was a director of the theatre proprieters, Howard and Wyndham. Henry Irving

Henry Irving

Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...

 and Harry Lauder

Harry Lauder

Sir Henry Lauder , known professionally as Harry Lauder, was an international Scottish entertainer, described by Sir Winston Churchill as "Scotland's greatest ever ambassador!"-Early life:...

 were friends of the family.

After the second World War, he founded the short-lived publishing house of Home and van Thal, with his friends Margaret Douglas-Home and Gwylim Fielden Hughes. The house was known as a "mushroom" publisher, since it sprang up overnight after the war. Later he became a general editor of the Doughty Library published by Anthony Blond

Anthony Blond

Anthony Bernard Blond was a British publisher and author.Blond was the elder son of Major Neville Blond CMG, OBE, who was a cousin of Harold Laski. His mother was from a Manchester Sephardic Jewish family; they divorced when Blond was a child. Born in Sale, Cheshire, Blond was educated at Eton,...

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Van Thal was a friend and publisher of the critic James Agate

James Agate

James Evershed Agate was a British diarist and critic. In the period between the wars, he was one of Britain's most influential theatre critics...

, whom he met in 1932. He had been impressed by Agate's review of Wycherley's The Country Wife. Agate once described him as looking like "a sleek, well-groomed dormouse" out of a John Tenniel

John Tenniel

Sir John Tenniel was a British illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist whose work was prominent during the second half of England’s 19th century. Tenniel is considered important to the study of that period’s social, literary, and art histories...

 illustration of Alice in Wonderland, due to Bertie's tendency to dress in a dapper suit, bow tie, monocle, and black shiny shoes.

He had deep familiarity with Victorian literature, opera, and Restoration dramatists. He was one of the first publishers to recognize the talent of Herman Hesse, and reprinted novels by George Gissing

George Gissing

George Robert Gissing was an English novelist who published twenty-three novels between 1880 and 1903. From his early naturalistic works, he developed into one of the most accomplished realists of the late-Victorian era.-Early life:...

 and Theodore Hook. He also edited anthologies of detective and horror stories; the Pan Book of Horror

Pan Book of Horror

The Pan Book of Horror Stories was a paperback series of short horror story anthologies published by Pan Books Ltd. The series ran to thirty volumes, the first published in 1959.The series was initially collected and edited by Herbert Van Thal...

 Stories series ran to 24 volumes, from 1959 to 1983. He edited an anthology of Hilaire Belloc

Hilaire Belloc

Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, satirist, man of letters and political activist...

 for Allen and Unwin in 1970, and edited the papers of famous music-critic Ernest Newman

Ernest Newman

Ernest Newman was an English music critic and musicologist. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes him as "the most celebrated British music critic in the first half of the 20th century." His style of criticism, aiming at intellectual objectivity in contrast to the more subjective...

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Editor and Pan Book of Horror Stories expert Johnny Mains

Johnny Mains

Johnny Mains is a Scottish editor and writer of horror fiction.-Biography:Johnny Mains is an award winning editor and horror historian whose main area of expertise is British horror anthologies...

 is credited with writing the first biography on van Thal. Lest You Should Suffer Nightmares, was published as an addendum to the critically acclaimed anthology Back From the Dead: The Legacy of the Pan Book of Horror Stories (Noose and Gibbet Publishing 2010). It will be reprinted as a stand alone book by Screaming Dreams in September 2011 with artwork by Les Edwards

Les Edwards

Les Edwards is a British illustrator known for his work in the horror, science fiction and fantasy genres, and has provided numerous illustrations for book jackets, posters, magazines, record covers and games during his career...

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