War, Invasion & Spy

    £1,750


    Comprising: The IPCRESS File; Horse Under Water [with original crossword slip]; Funeral in Berlin; Billion-Dollar Brain
    London, Hodder & Stoughton; Jonathan Cape, 1962-66.

    First editions, first impressions. 4 vol. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jackets, all correctly priced.

    An unusually good set of the first quartet of Deighton's "Harry Palmer" novels (although the character is never actually named in the books); increasingly difficult to find as a set and in comparable condition, here with the original crossword slip in the second book as called for. The stories' popularity received an additional bolstering from the three film versions made starring Michael Caine, and have enjoyed ongoing success for fans of spy fiction, not least as a counterpoint to Fleming's James Bond novels.

    £195



    London, Gifford, 1938.

    First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    An uncommon first edition, recounting one British woman's bravery in the face of the Spanish Civil War.

    £325



    London, Hutchinson, 1942.

    First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10/6.

    A signed & inscribed first edition of Wheatley's wartime espionage classic, set against the background of Vichy France and the occupied territories in 1940.

    £2,500


    or, The British Agent
    London, Heinemann, 1928.

    First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt and with publisher's and author's device in black. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6 to spine.

    A great copy, benefitting from some professional conservational work to the jacket, of the author's spy stories, based largely on his own undercover experiences in Europe & Russia. It is believed that initially there were 31 stories but 14 had to be destroyed on Churchill's orders as they were in breach of the Official Secrets Act. Many authors of spy fiction have acknowledged the importance and merit of this work over the years, including John Le Carré, Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, Julian Symons and Raymond Chandler.

    £250



    London, Jonathan Cape, 1935.

    First trade edition. Small 4to. Original brown buckram. Dust-jacket.

    The first trade edition of Lawrence's famous account of the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War alongside general Middle Eastern and military history, politics, adventure and drama. A unique portrait of this extraordinary man and an insight into the birth of the Arab nation.

    £275

    London, Jonathan Cape, 1965.First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original plain black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 18s.A very decent first edition of the last full-length James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, in the plain second state boards. Under the heat of the Caribbean sun, Bond faces a seemingly impossible task: win a duel against Scaramanga, the Man with the Golden Gun, and regain M's trust.

    War, Invasion & Spy

    Fleming (Ian) Thrilling Cities

    £195



    London, Jonathan Cape, 1963.

    First edition. Small 4to. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, priced 30s.

    An attractive first edition of Bond-creator Fleming's adventure-charged visit to the world's most exciting, exotic and sinful cities. Includes snapshots of Hong Kong, Tokyo, Honolulu, Las Vegas, New York and Monte Carlo.

    £50



    London, Pan, 1967.

    First Pan edition. 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers, priced 3/6.

    Set apart from the other books in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, The Spy Who Loved Me is told from the perspective of a femme fatale in the making, Vivienne Michel.

    War, Invasion & Spy

    Fleming (Ian) Casino Royale

    £125



    London, Pan Books, 1955.

    First reprint of the first paperback edition. 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers.

    The first paperback edition of Fleming's first James Bond book, the blonde Bond adorning the cover seemingly anticipating Daniel Craig's eventual adoption of the role...

    War, Invasion & Spy

    Fleming (Ian) Thunderball

    £50



    London, Pan Books, 1963.

    First paperback edition. 8vo. Original wrappers.

    The first paperback edition of Fleming's ninth James Bond book.

    £550



    London, Hutchinson, 1940.

    First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Inscribed by the author on the title-page, "For J.W. Hughes With very best wishes from his friend Dennis Wheatley".

    £595



    London, Hutchinson, 1937.

    First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Publisher's advertisements. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Inscribed by the author on the title-page, "To Mr W. Green with the best of good wishes from Dennis Wheatley".

    £175



    London, Hutchinson, 1933.

    First edition. 8vo. Publisher's advertisements dated 'Autumn 1933' at end. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Following the misfortunes of an aristocratic German family after the first World War. Uncommon.

    £550



    London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1917.

    First edition. 8vo. Original pale red cloth stamped in black. Dust-jacket, priced 5/-.

    An early collection of war tales by the original 'Sapper', extremely uncommon in the original jacket.

    £75



    New York, Dutton, 1967.

    First US edition. 8vo. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, priced $3.95.

    The first US edition of the first of Diment's spy novels featuring Philip McAlpine, whom critic Anthony Boucher described as "an agent who smokes hashish, leads a highly active sex life, kills vividly, uses (or even coins) the latest London slang and still seems a perfectly real (and even oddly likeable) young man rather than a reflected Bond image.

    £95



    London, Michael Joseph, 1968.

    First edition. 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced 25s.

    The second of Diment's spy novels featuring Philip McAlpine, whom critic Anthony Boucher described as "an agent who smokes hashish, leads a highly active sex life, kills vividly, uses (or even coins) the latest London slang and still seems a perfectly real (and even oddly likeable) young man rather than a reflected Bond image. The jacket artwork seemingly takes inspiration from Richard Chopping's James Bond jackets.

    £375


    A chronicle, serious and humorous, of the Battalion while serving with the British Expeditionary Force
    Gloucester, John Jennings, 1915-1919 [1923].

    First edition in book form. Small folio (345 x 220 mm). Original pictorial brown cloth blocked and lettered in black.

    The first edition in book form of this important trench newspaper created by the 5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, reissuing all twenty-five of the original 'gazettes' printed between 1915 & 1919. The issues, which regularly attained a circulation of over 1500 copies, drew on the wealth of talent which existed amongst the ranks of the Battalion, including the well-known poet F.W. Harvey, who contributed over seventy poems and verses.

    £350


    Prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and the War Office
    [London], Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division, 1916.

    8vo. Original wallet-style blue cloth with fold-over section, lettered in gilt.

    A great copy of this handbook issued during the First World War on behalf of the Admiralty and the War Office for official, intelligence purposes.

    War, Invasion & Spy

    Witten (George) Outlaw Trails

    £125


    A Yankee Hobo Soldier of the Queen
    New York, Minton, Balch & Company, 1929.

    First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.

    The autobiography of an American 'hobo' who served with the British Mounted Police and cavalry during the Boer War.

    £195


    With an introduction by V.I. Lenin
    New York, International Publishers, [?1926].

    8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $1.50.

    An early reprint by the publishing house of the USA Communist Party of Reed's famous firsthand account of the 1917 Russian October Revolution, originally published in 1919. The introduction by Lenin was first added to an edition published in 1922. The NYPL records an edition published by International Publishers and ascribes the date to 1926, but we could not locate a date preceding 1939 for the Eugene Varga title promoted on the rear inside flap, so it may be later.

    £125



    London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1936.

    First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Asian adventure from Haggard-esque author Gompertz. Uncommon in the jacket.

    £150



    London, Alston Rivers, [1905].

    First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth with red zigzag line down upper cover and lettered in gilt.

    Military fiction by Brigadier-General Arthur Frank Umfreville Green CMG DSO, a senior British Army officer in World War I and author of several publications.

    £195



    London, Herbert Jenkins, 1939.

    First edition. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.

    Interesting, and uncommon example of alt-history fiction relating to Hitler and WW2, but in this case actually written and published coeval to the time of the events. Rare in jacket.

    War, Invasion & Spy

    Johns (W.E.) Sky Fever

    £195



    London, Latimer House, [1953].

    First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    "Here are tales for all moods, blending adventure with sentiment and revealing once again that Captain Johns knows how to cater for the older reader as well as for boys and girls." (jacket blurb)

    £125



    London, Museum Press, 1951.

    First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth with silver lettering and red skull motif to spine. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6.

    Intrigue split across the US, Italy and Argentina in this rare spy thriller.

    £375



    London, Jonathan Cape, 1965.

    First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original plain black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 18s.

    A very decent first edition of the last full-length James Bond novel by Ian Fleming, in the plain second state boards. Under the heat of the Caribbean sun, Bond faces a seemingly impossible task: win a duel against Scaramanga, the Man with the Golden Gun, and regain M's trust.

    War, Invasion & Spy

    Blochman (Lawrence) Blow-Down

    £425



    London, Collins, 1940.

    First UK edition. 8vo. 3pp. advertisements. Original mauve cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/3.

    Attractive jacket artwork for this surprisingly uncommon and highly collectable British edition, combining international intrigue of German & American spies in Central America, with exotic backgrounds, humour and romance.

    £75



    London, Museum Press, 1945.

    First UK edition. 8vo. Original black cloth with white skull to spine. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.

    Striking jacket artwork on this murder-mystery with shady espionage overtones, set in New York.

    £250



    London, Ernest Benn, 1929.

    First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth stamped in orange. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    A spy thriller, previously serialised in The Daily Mail, "with the publication of the book Mr. Baxter will join the small and distinguished order of Shockers Extraordinary to the British Empire." (jacket blurb)

    £395



    London, Herbert Jenkins, [1942].

    First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    The first of fourteen 'Tiger Lester' titles, written under the pseudonym "Don Betteridge", in an attractive dust-jacket.

    £225



    London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1937.

    First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Spy thriller in great Bip Pares jacket; Mark Humberstone and a man called Cheng bequeath a marvellous wireless technology to the shady espionage organisation the Council of Seven.

    £1,250



    London, Chapman & Hall, 1923.

    First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Stunning jacket artwork by one of the greatest 20th century jacket artists, E. McKnight Kauffer. Given the condition of the book compared to the jacket we have to presume this is either a marriage or a case of the book and the jacket being kept apart, with the jacket filed away safely...

    £250



    London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1938.

    First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    An important work in the Bulldog Drummond canon, marking the transition from 'Sapper' to Fairlie. The two had worked on the story together, but McNeile died before it was finished, leaving Fairlie to take on the mantle.

    £75



    London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1949.

    First edition. 8vo. Original pale yellow cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.

    'The scene...Brussels. The time...after the war. And the characters? Why, Tommy Hambledon, of course!' (jacket blurb). Espionage thriller.

    £295



    London, Harrap, 1930.

    First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

    Striking jacket artwork on this tale of international intrigue, centring around the fictional Balkan country of Carpathia.

    War, Invasion & Spy

    Neumann (Alfred) The Hero

    £95



    London, Martin Secker, October 1931.

    First English edition, second printing. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.

    Wonderful jacket artwork on this story of a political assassin during the few days before the shooting of a Minister of State.

    £80



    London, John Hamilton, [1936].

    First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3s6d.

    A solid first edition of a classic aviation tale by prolific writer George E. Rochester, drawing on his own experience in the Royal Flying Corps; bandit menace in the air above Tibet, bad Buddhists, and more…

    £95



    London, John Hamilton, [1936].

    First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.

    Further aeronautical tales of peril from Rochester, drawing to some degree on his own experiences with the Royal Flying Corps. Jacket artwork by one of the best at this sort of thing, Howard Leigh.

    £80



    London, John Hamilton, [1936].

    First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth with black spine labels. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.

    Howard and Carstairs face aerial threat from the eponymous pirates of the air, in this aviation thriller drawing upon the author's own experiences in the Royal Flying Corps.

    War, Invasion & Spy

    McKenna (Marthe) Set a Spy

    £150



    London, Jarrolds, [1937].

    First edition. 8vo. Original oatmeal cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

    Attractive first edition - the British Empire is in danger after a dubious disarmament policy, with the threat of war looming large on the horizon...

    War, Invasion & Spy

    Wheatley (Dennis) Contraband

    £875

    London, Hutchinson, 1936.First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.A rare 'thirties Wheatley first edition, enhanced further by the inscription from the author, 'To Mr E.W. Sheppard With the best of good wishes from his friend Dennis Wheatley'. Sheppard could possibly by the military historian, who was certainly writing around the same time.

    £250



    London, Hutchinson, 1941.

    First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6.

    The second of three novels by Wheatley featuring Julian Day.