Leroux (Gaston) The Phantom of the Opera.

Translated by Alexander Teixeira da Mattos
London, Readers Library, [c.1925].

Readers Library edition. Small 8vo. Advertisements. Original red cloth with elaborate gilt work and lettering. Dust-jacket with wraparound artwork.

An attractive copy of a rare and important early edition in English of Leroux’s classic horror novel about a demented musician who haunts the 19th century Paris Opera House and plays a sinisterly svengalian role in the career of a beautiful young singer. This edition’s jacket artwork is taken from the 1925 Universal Studios production, and possibly precedes the “photoplay” edition which was published in the same format and jacket but included black & white photographs from that film. The story took on a new lease of life with the world-famous musical production by Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1986.