Marsh (Richard, pseud. Richard Bernard Heldmann) The Beetle
£595
London, Grayson & Grayson, n.d..
8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
An attractive edition of Marsh’s horror novel in which a shape-shifting ancient Egyptian entity exerts a hypnotic influence over his victims, leading to a series of strange and terrifying events in 1890s London. The novel unfolds through four narrators, each recounting their harrowing encounter with “the Beetle.” The novel is often cited as a quintessential example of fin de siècle Gothic fiction, embodying the era’s anxieties and narrative innovations. Upon release, it was a sensation, and by 1913 it had gone through fifteen printings. The striking jacket artwork here is by Charles Buchel, a well-known illustrator famed for his theatre posters.
In stock
Internally very good; cloth very good; jacket with minor chipping to corners, light crease to foot of upper panel, but overall very good.
Jacket artwork by J. Buchel.
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