The Crystal Cave

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Stewart, one of the most popular novelists writing today, was born in Sunderland,County Durham,England , but home was wherever her father, a clergyman of the Church of England, was called.

After boarding-school, she received a B.A. with honours in Literature from Durham University and went on for her M.A. At the beginning of World War II, she was asked to return to her Alma Mater as a lecturer, and gave six lectures a week, eked out her small salary by teaching sixth form at a boys' public school, and spent three night-shifts a week in the Royal Observer Corps until hostilities ended.

It was at a dance celebrating V-E Day that she met a young Geology professor named Stewart; within two months they were married. Professor Stewart, F.R.S., is now Head of the Department of Geology in the University of Edinburgh and is on the Council of Scientific Policy. Mrs. Stewart has had a meteoric career of her own, beginning with the publication in 1954 of her first novel, Madam, Will You Talk?, and culminating in this magical story about Merlin, the enchanter: The Crystal Cave. In 1968 she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.