Minor spotting to extremities of text-block; cloth very good; jacket a bit chipped and rubbed at extremities, but otherwise very good.
Illustrations by Ruth Steed after the author.
£595
London, Heinemann, 1949.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt to spine and with gilt illustration to upper cover; dust-jacket, priced 9s6d.
Dodie Smith’s first published novel, a coming-of-age tale set against a backdrop of a decaying English castle and eccentric family life.
In stock
Minor spotting to extremities of text-block; cloth very good; jacket a bit chipped and rubbed at extremities, but otherwise very good.
Illustrations by Ruth Steed after the author.
Horror & Gothic
London, Heinemann, 1938.
First edition. 1½ page autograph letter from the author tipped in at front. 8vo. Original orange-brown cloth lettered in gilt.
A superb association copy: Roughead's writings inspired the Shearing novel The Fetch (dedicated to him). The book is notable for containing the ghost story 'They Found my Grave' not available elsewhere in the reprint collections issued in the author's lifetime. Edward Wagenknecht was exuberant about this ghost story in his essay on Marjorie Bowen (Seven Masters of the Supernatural), praising its 'atmosphere of evil'.
American Literature
London, Heinemann, 1931.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
The first UK edition of this tale of Polish immigrant workers in New England which weaves a complex social history of the period, commencing with the stock market crash of 1929. Ferber is best known today perhaps as the author of Show Boat and Giant.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Heinemann, 1896.
First UK edition, first impression, issue with rear advertisement for The Time Machine on terminal leaf preceding publisher's list, beginning with The Nigger of the "Narcissus" and ends with Chun-ti-Kung by Claude Rees. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth, with publisher's monogram in black to lower board.
A very good first UK edition of Wells' "weird science" classic, contemplating the blurred lines between man and beast, civilisation and savagery...
African literature
London, Heinemann, 1958.
First edition, first impression; 8vo. Original brick-red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
The first edition of Nigerian author Achebe's first novel, one of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'. Things Fall Apart is the first part of the author's 'African Trilogy', a compelling story of one man's battle to protect his community against the forces of change, seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first to receive global critical acclaim. It is a literary staple of schools throughout Africa and is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. Scarce.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Heinemann, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket.
A good first edition of Dunsany's classic humorous novel about an alcohol-loving clergyman who thinks he is the reincarnation of a dog...the jacket artwork says it all.