Eric Stanley Quayle (1921–2001) was a noted British bibliophile, collector and author.
Quayle's writings were mainly related to the themes of collecting books but he also produced a noted biography (1967) of the Victorian adventure story writer, R. M. Ballantyne, and two books of folk tales: one of Cornish tales (The Magic Ointment) and one of Japanese tales (The Shining Princess). These were both illustrated by the prolific Michael Foreman.[1]
Over his lifetime he built up a substantial collection of books (16,000 volumes at the time of his death), which included many "rare and first editions" covering a wide range of topics in "literature and science" and a collection of children's books with "many titles (...) known by only the single copy in his possession".[2] His collection also included literary ephemera amongst which were materials by and about Ballantyne.
Quinton Quayle, the retired British diplomat, was one of Eric's children[3] as was Chrissy Quayle, the musician (The Mermaid of Zennor).[4]
He died in August 2001 in a fall from the cliffs at Zennor Head near his home, Carn Cobba, a house noted for its cliffside gardens[5] and "by an old millstream that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean from the edge of rugged cliffs"[6] seven miles from St Ives, Cornwall.[7][8]