Weird & Supernatural

Showing 37–72 of 146 results

£150


compiled from the recollections of the reverend Roland Batchel, vicar of the parish
Penyffordd, Chester, Ash-Tree Press, 1996.

One of 400 copies. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket.

Originally published in 1912, "...Swain's tales share many features with those of James' and draw on the friends' common interests and antiquarian studies. They are however rather milder in tone and regularly incorporate a playful humour not often found in James' work. The tales relate the adventures of a fictionalized version of the author, Mr Batchel, Rector of Stoneground parish. Although by today's standards, readers may find Swain's stories rather lacking in supernatural horrors, their subtle qualities become apparent on re-reading, and many find Mr Batchel one of the most enduring creations of English ghost fiction." - Wilson, Shadows in the Attic

Weird & Supernatural

Wakefield (H.R.) Reunion at Dawn

£75


and other uncollected ghost stories
Ashcroft, British Columbia, Ash-Tree Press, 2000.

First edition, one of 600 copies. 8vo. Original dark red cloth. Dust-jacket.

A collecton of seventeen previously unpublished stories by Wakefield, discovered in the files of August Derleth and edited by Peter Ruber.

£75


An Anthology of Mystical Verse
London, Macmillan, 1932.

First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.

An interesting and ambitious work, compiling mystical poems from English and non-English traditions. Scarce in the dust-jacket.

£125


A practical treatise in support of the assertion that the hand-writing of a person is an infallible guide to his character
London, William Rider, 1919.

Third edition, revised & enlarged. 8vo. Original cloth. Printed dust-jacket.

A scarce graphological work, particularly in the original dust-jacket and in such condition. The eldest daughter of an eminent London newspaper man, Rosa Baughan was a prolific writer on spiritualist subjects, including graphology, divination and the influence of the stars.

£350



London, Thornton Butterworth, 1929.

First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, with 'overseas edition' printed to spine.

A very good first edition of this uncommon weird & supernatural title about the transference of a soul and the resultant implications.

Weird & Supernatural

Benson (E.F.) The Angel of Pain

£75



London, Heinemann, 1906.

First UK edition, second impression. 8vo. Original pictorial yellow cloth.

A solid first edition, second impression, of this tale of the supernatural by Mapp and Lucia creator E.F. Benson.

£950


and other stories
London, Cassell, [1920].

First edition. 8vo. Original decorative cloth, spine slightly sunned.

A very good copy of this collection by the creator of the Mapp & Lucia series, which includes, alongside the titular story alongside The Blackmailer of Park Lane, The Dance on the Beefsteak, The Oriolists In the Dark, The False Step and The Case of Frank Hampden. Some tales with supernatural tones.

£300



London, Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd, 1928.

Early jacketed edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket.

A rare jacketed issue of this important work by Father Benson, lauded in his own day as one of the leading figures in English literature, having written the notable novel Lord of the World (1907). This collection of supernatural horror stories, originally published in various periodicals and later collected in book form, examines "that horrible sense of silence round about us, in which dreadful forces are alert and watching us."

£50



London, Isbister, 1904.

First edition, fourth printing. Title printed in red & black. 8vo. Original dark blue cloth blocked in white to upper cover and lettered in gilt to spine.

An early printing of this famous collection of supernatural tales, recounted from the perspective of an old Roman Catholic priest.

£750

First edition, Macmillan, 1913. Author’s presentation copy to Louis Parker. Louis Napoleon Parker was an English dramatist, composer and translator. Signed ‘from AB (author)’ on front end paper. Very rare survival in a jacket especially inscribed.

£125


First edition.
London, Macmillan, 1914.

A collection of three long tales and a couple of short stories. The weird fiction historian ST Joshi has acclaimed Incredible Adventures as possibly "the premier weird collection of this or any other century’’.

£325



London &c., Ward, Lock, 1914.

First edition. 8vo. Original blind-tooled green cloth lettered in gilt.

A fresh & bright first edition of this art-theft tale by Irish writer Bodkin, creator of Paul Beck and the bicycling lady detective Dora Myrl. A wonderful Velasquez painting is stolen from a house in County Galway.

£195



London, Macdonald, 1947.

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

An intriguing tale by this author of crime fiction, the title taken from a line by Pope, "What beckoning ghost along the moonlight shade Invites my steps and points to yonder glade?".

£950

Second English edition.
London. Richard Bentley, 1850
A very handsome copy of Calmet's influential work on angels, demons, spirits and vampires, originally published in French in 1746, first appeared in an anonymous English translation in 1759. This translation is taken from the two volume 1751 third edition, a much expanded and revised version, and the last to be corrected by Calmet himself. This is the second English edition and is rarely encountered in original binding.

£350


A Book of Romances, Fantasies, Whimsies, and Levities
Edinburgh & London, William Blackwood, 1900.

First edition. Publisher's presentation copy with blind-stamp to title. 8vo. Original dark green cloth lettered in gilt.

An author who turned his pen to various genres, including crime fiction and weird & supernatural. Rare.

£250



London and New York, Harper & Brothers, 1905.

First edition. 8vo. 4pp. advertisements. Publisher's claret cloth blocked in black to upper cover and lettered in gilt to spine.

An uncommon collection of mystery short stories imbued with the supernatural, from the creator of Father Brown. Includes 'Tremendous Adventures of Major Brown' which some have suggested predicts the concept of an alt-reality game. Each story focusses on a person who makes his living by some unusual means (the "queer trade" of the title). To gain admittance one must have invented a unique means of earning a living and the subsequent trade being the main source of income.

£250



London, Thornton Butterworth, 1922.

First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, price cut from spine.

An uncommon first edition, especially in the Abbey dust-jacket. The title is listed in Bleiler's Check-List of Science-Fiction and Fantasy, where it is coded for 'paranormal abilities'.

£325



London, Herbert Jenkins, [c.1934].

First edition, second impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/6.

A wonderful, bright jacket on this scarce early printing by a prolific author, who wrote over 40 novels, often with a flair for unusual phrasing that would be lucky to escape the editor's blue pencil these days.

£2,750



London, Frederick Muller, 1938.

First edition. Inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.

Blessedly not the Ash-Tree Press edition that is normally the only way one finds this rare title these days, and with a nice personal inscription from the author, but unfortunately it looks like someone tried to suppress this weird & supernatural compilation through drowning! The slightly damaged inscription reads 'To Mrs Hindes w[ith] the [author]'s compliments and very pleasant memories [of] a happy evening. Frederick Cowles 21st January 1941'.

Weird & Supernatural

Crawford (L.I.) The Spirit Walks

£95



London, Ernest Benn, 1933.

First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth, dust-jacket.

Intriguingly uncommon title, in attractive jacket.

Weird & Supernatural

Crowe (Catherine) The Weir-Wolf

£450

1st printing contained within Volume 3 of Hogg’s Weekly Instructor (pages 184-189).
London, Hogg's Weekly Instructor, 1846
The volume contains many articles, stories and poems as was the nature of the periodical but primarily it is the inclusion of the important first printing of Catherine Crowe's 'The Story of a Weir-Wolf' that makes this desirable. It is a 'Witch Trial' story of the sufferings of a maiden who is wrongly accused of Lycanthropy. This story is arguably wrote the first werewolf short story by a female. It was reprinted in The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Werewolf Anthology but its first appearance was in this volume. Two years after “A Story of a Weir-Wolf” was published Crowe published a collection she titled “The Night-Side of Nature, or Ghosts and Ghost-seers.” An attractive addition to any collection of gothic and/or supernatural fiction.

£225


and other sketches and vignettes
London etc., Humphrey Milford, 1921.

First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Printed dust-jacket.

A collection of short stories, many of a supernatural nature. De Montmorency's background was in law, but he was a prolific writer, "much of his published work is of a somewhat miscellaneous and transient character. He was one of the principal contributors to the series of monographs published by the Society of Comparative Legislation under the title of Great Jurists of the World, and he wrote the section 'Sea-policy and the Alabama claims' in the Cambridge History of British Foreign Policy, volume 3 (1923). Selections of the articles which he contributed to The Times and the Contemporary Review were published under the titles of The Never-Ending Road (1916), The White Riders (1918), and The Admiral's Chair (1921)." (ODNB)

£225


and other sketches in war-time
London etc., Humphrey Milford, 1918.

First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Printed dust-jacket.

A collection of short stories, many of a supernatural nature. De Montmorency's background was in law, but he was a prolific writer, "much of his published work is of a somewhat miscellaneous and transient character. He was one of the principal contributors to the series of monographs published by the Society of Comparative Legislation under the title of Great Jurists of the World, and he wrote the section 'Sea-policy and the Alabama claims' in the Cambridge History of British Foreign Policy, volume 3 (1923). Selections of the articles which he contributed to The Times and the Contemporary Review were published under the titles of The Never-Ending Road (1916), The White Riders (1918), and The Admiral's Chair (1921)." (ODNB)

£160



London, Bell & Daldy, 1863.

First edition. 8vo. Original tooled brown cloth.

A compilation of imaginative representations of folk- & later tales. Uncommon.

£100



London, Robert Hale, 1956.

First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in green with silver stamped logo to spine. Dust-jacket correctly priced 10s 6d.

One of the last novels by Cicely Sibyl Alexandra Dick-Erikson under the pseudonym Alexandra Dick (she also wrote as Frances Hay), a story of murder & satanism. Uncommon.

£325



London, Ward Lock, 1934.

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

The first book by the author of The Golden Fluid, contains fantastic elements, including a gem with occult powers. Excellent semi-abstract jacket artwork.

£220


and other Naval Stories. As originally Told to the Marines by one of themselves.
Portsmouth, Charpentier, 1896.

True first edition. 8vo. Original purple cloth stamped in gilt.

A rare collection of nautical tales, many of a weird and supernatural bent. The collection is referenced in Bleiler's Guide to Supernatural Fiction, the main entry given to the 1899 Simpkin, Marshall edition, but noting 'There is an earlier edition of this book (Charpentier; Portsmouth, England 1896), which has not been seen.'

William Price Drury (1861-1949) was himself in the Royal Marines, as was the previous owner of this copy, General Sir Lewis Stratford Tollemache Halliday.

£395



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.

£125



London, R. & L. Locker, 1947.

First UK edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 5/-.

Striking jacket artwork on this semi-weird tale of arcane rites in the Brazilian forest.

£395



London, Ward Lock & Co., c.1882-84.

Early English edition. 8vo. Publisher's adverts to rear. Original decorative cloth blocked in black & gilt.

This copy dates from sometime between 1882 and 1884 based on the title page. Ward, Lock & Co. did not open an office in New York at 10 Bond Street until June of 1882. In November of 1884 that office moved to 31 Bond Street. The first edition of Stories of the Rhine was published by Ward, Lock & Tyler in 1875, and in addition to stating "Ward, Lock& Tyler" on the title page, it would only have their earlier address of Warwick House, Salisbury Square. Ward, Lock & Tyler became Ward, Lock, & Co, in 1877.

Collection of short stories, set in the late 18th century and in the 19th century, most with a weird element including 'The Buried Treasure' where the treasure of Gontran the Miser is found by supernatural means. All Victorian editions of Erckmann-Chatrian titles are uncommon especially in original cloth.

Weird & Supernatural

Fletcher (J.S.) The Malachite Jar

£450



London, Collins, [1930].

First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth, blocked in red.

A very good first edition of this collection of short stories by hugely prolific crime writer J.S. Fletcher. The title story is about a mysterious death of a magistrate who was an avid collector of rare books and antiques. Other stories involve a haunted lighthouse, a family feud, a stolen diamond, a secret tunnel and a murder at sea.

£3,750



London, Noel Douglas, 1927.

First edition. 8vo. Original dark green cloth lettered in black. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.

The rare first edition of occultist Dion Fortune's first novel, revolving around a secret society of mystics in London, and the machinations of their leader, Lucas. Fortune co-founded the 'Fraternity of the Inner Light', an occult organisation that promoted philosophies which she claimed had been taught to her by spiritual entities known as the Ascended Masters.

£350



London, Eveleigh Nash & Grayson, 1930.

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

A scarce weird & supernatural 30s title, rare in the original dust-jacket, with its ominous play on "what the butler saw".

£250


a narration of the perilous sojourn therein of George Cowper, mariner, etc.
London, Henry J. Drane, [1897].

First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial light grey-green cloth.

Castaways on uncharted island fall under seemingly supernatural power of life and death held by the Mighty Justin, Lord of the Land of the Living Dead. In fact, the island is permeated by deadly volcanic gas for which Justin alone possesses an antidote that is administered only to loyal subjects. Bleiler p. 78.a

A good copy of a scarce book rarely found in decent condition.

£450



London, Rider, 1912.

First edition. 8vo. Original blind-tooled purple cloth.

A rare work of a weird & supernatural bent, Egyptian mummies, reincarnation, ghosts, that sort of thing... Winifred Graham was a a prolific author, though this title was the only one of hers to make it into Bleiler's Guide to Supernatural Fiction (and he was not exactly gentle with it therein!). Distinctly uncommon.

Weird & Supernatural

Grant (James) A Haunted Life.

£1,600


A Ghost Story
London & New York, Routledge, [1876].

Routledge's Christmas Annual for 1876. 8vo. Illustrations; advertisements. Original pictorial wrappers.

The first appearance of this classic Victorian ghost story by Scottish author Grant, in Routledge's Christmas Annual for 1876. Rare in the original wrappers.