Eric Quayle
Eric Stanley Quayle (1921–2001) was a British book lover, collector and writer. He wrote mainly about collecting books, including a 1967 biography of the Victorian adventure writer R. M. Ballantyne, and two folk-tale books: The Magic Ointment (Cornish tales) and The Shining Princess (Japanese tales), both illustrated by Michael Foreman.
Quayle built a large collection, about 16,000 books, including many rare and first editions in literature and science, plus a sizeable group of children’s books, some known by only one copy he owned. His collection also contained literary papers and items about Ballantyne.
His children included Quinton Quayle, a retired British diplomat, and Chrissy Quayle, the musician known for The Mermaid of Zennor.
He died in August 2001 after a fall from the cliffs at Zennor Head near his home, Carn Cobba, a house with cliffside gardens by an old millstream overlooking the Atlantic, seven miles from St Ives, Cornwall.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 08:32 (CET).