Weird & Supernatural
and what they undertook
London, Sands & Co., 1898.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt.
A collection of stories told over seven days by various narrators, including a longer, nautical tale, 'The Voyage of the Lethe', told by a barber. Other tales include intriguing titles like 'Wanted, a Corpse,' 'The Witch's Dance,' and 'The Spoiled Spell,' many with some modest supernatural content. A rare book by the author of the 1912 weird mystery novel, The Mummy.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Sampson Low, Son, & Martson, 1869.
First UK edition. 8vo. Publisher's advertisements at end. Original brown cloth lettered and ruled in gilt.
The first UK edition of this collection of ghostly tales, published the year after the author's most well known work, The Gates Ajar, one of the best-selling works on spiritualism of all time.
Weird & Supernatural
Ray (Jean, pseud. Raymundus Joannes de Kremer) Ghouls in my Grave
New York, Berkley Publishing Corporation, 1965.
'Berkley Medallion Edition', first edition in English. 8vo. Rebound in contemporary cloth with original wrapper bound in.
One of the more collectable titles published by Berkley, who cut their teeth on paperback editions of Sci-Fi and Weird modern classics. This represents the first appearance in English of these tales by 'Jean Ray'.
Weird & Supernatural
Translated by G.F. Monkhood
London, Literary Press, n.d..
8vo. Original red cloth, spine gilt.
An attractive jacketed edition of Gautier's Le Roman de La Momie, originally published in 1858, a historical novel set in Ancient Egypt, which features the Biblical Exodus.
![Alternative view of [Doyle (Arthur Conan)] Ghost Stories and Presentiments](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/1085628_2-scaled-300x300.jpg)
Weird & Supernatural
London, George Redway, [1888].
First edition, second issue. 8vo. Original blue pictorial cloth.
A repackaging of volume 3 of the scarce triple-decker Dreamland and Ghostland (1888) which includes five of the seven Conan Doyle short stories found in that collection (the first appearances by Conan Doyle in book form, preceding A Study in Scarlet). The sales were of the initial collection were poor and the publisher repackaged the sheets in separate volumes with new titles and bindings.
Weird & Supernatural
Stories from an old catalogue
London, Smith, Elder, 1916.
First edition, second impression. With loose 2pp. signed autograph letter from the author. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, remains of 6/- price sticker.
A great example of the first edition (albeit second impression) of this collection of historical tales, which includes two weird & supernatural tales, 'The fair hair of Ambrosine' and 'Gindetta's wedding night'. The accompanying autograph letter (mounted on card) from the author is dated 22nd May 1917, signed under her first married name, Gabrielle Costanzo (her husband Zefferino died in 1916 and this letter must have been written shortly before her second marriage to Arthur Long), and as 'Marjorie Bowen', referring to the collection: "… I think you will find another side of things in 'Shadows of Yesterday'. If these later stories partake too much of the character of a nightmare, it may be because they affect as moods of mine engendered by very terrible experiences of my own".
Weird & Supernatural
and other tales
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1929.
First edition. With loose autograph letter signed Gabrielle Long. 8vo. Original dark blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An excellent example of this short story collection, accompanied by a 1pp handwritten letter, dated 11th June 1938, signed Gabrielle Long, addressed to a Sir Charles, thanking him for inviting her to a meeting " … the prospect is rather a formidable one. I can however speak with sincere gratitude of the London Library."
Weird & Supernatural
and other stories of yesterday and to-day
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1929.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in pale green.
A very good example of this rare collection of supernatural and historical short stories, including 'The Necromancers' (reprinted as 'The Incantation').
Weird & Supernatural
and other stories
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1927.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in pale blue.
Rare collection of short stories, including a number of supernatural tales, with a focus on women trapped in damaging relationships. The title story 'Dark Ann' is regarded as on of the author's best ghost stories.
Weird & Supernatural
and other stories
London, Selwyn & Blount, [1932].
First edition, second impression. 8vo. Original pale sage cloth. Dust-jacket.
An attractive collection of Bowen's short stories, including her story 'The Intruder'.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Hutchinson, 1934.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, price removed from spine jacket.
The first edition of this collection of 13 short stories by Benson, comprising: "The Step", "The Bed by the Window", "James Lamp", "The Dance", "The Hanging of Alfred Wadham", "Pirates", "The Wishing-Well", "The Bath-Chair", "Monkeys", "Christopher Comes Back", "The Sanctuary", "Thursday Evenings", "The Psychical Mallards".
Weird & Supernatural
Original stories illustrating posthumous personality and character... Sole Edition
London, Roxburghe Press, [1894].
First edition. 8vo. Title-page printed in green. Original green cloth.
Scarce edition of weird stories: "...these blood-curdling tales are published on a novel plan. The fiction has never been serialised; during the continuance of the copyright no other edition will appear; there will be no sale after the last day of March, 1895. Every reader is thus made a participator in two advantages, for all the matter is fresh, and it is quite certain that the book can be safely purchased for presentation- if a friend's hair is to be turned into quills. And now a few words with regard to Phantasms. It may be judged from this engaging title that apparitions play at hide-and-seek among these pages. Only two of the stories are free of shudders, and we think we may venture to say that there are few readers, however jaded, however distant from the habit of shivering over bogies, who will not go somewhat mincingly to bed after spending the midnight with Mr. Wirt Gerrare." (The Literary World, vol.LI, 1895)
Weird & Supernatural
or, the Wonderful and Strange Relation of the Life and Adventures of Nathan Souldrop
London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1892.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt.
A tale of black magic and witchcraft in early 18th-century Northamptonshire, loosely based on the story of Elinor Shaw, the last person burnt in England for the practice of witchcraft. The narrator is the victim of mesmerism and hallucinatory horrors, one of which is the titular blue dragon that materialises in the air. Rare.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Ernest Benn, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth, dust-jacket.
Intriguingly uncommon title, in attractive jacket.
Weird & Supernatural
or, the Dwarf and the Seer: A Caledonian Legend
London, Joseph Emans, 1824.
First edition. 8vo. Contemporary calf, rebacked in later calf.
A Gothic novel set in medieval Scotland, surprisingly uncommon with only 3 copies recorded in institutional holdings.
Weird & Supernatural
and other queer stories
London, Victor Gollancz, 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth, lettering to rebacked spine in yellow indicating first issue.
Scarce collection of weird tales by this prolific British writer, author of 'The Tortoiseshell Cat'.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Newnes, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Beyond the minor chipping a very nice copy of this collection of twelve tales by Australian author Knowles, "tales of the super-real rather than the supernatural, or, if you will, fairy tales for grown-ups." (jacket).
Weird & Supernatural
and other stories
London, Ernest Benn Limited, 1927.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original yellow cloth ruled and lettered in black.
A scarce edition, collecting stories mostly derived from the author's own dreams. The title tale, 'Lukundoo', is the author's most anthologised story, recounting the plight of an explorer who falls foul of a local witch-doctor's ghastly curse.
Weird & Supernatural
Translated by Edgar Jepson.
London, Hurst and Blackett, 1912.
First UK edition. 8vo. 24 page publisher's catalogue to rear dated Autumn 1912. Original black cloth lettered & blocked in gilt.
A 1903 novel by Gaston Leroux, author of The Phantom of the Opera. The story follows M. Theophrastus Longuet who is possessed by the soul of 'Cartouche', a notorious brigand from the 18th century. Longuet begins to exhibit Cartouche's personality traits, including a love of violence and a disregard for authority. He also begins to wear a black feather in his hat, which is Cartouche's trademark... A pleasing example of an uncommon edition.
Weird & Supernatural
London & Boston, John Lane; Roberts Bros, 1895.
First edition. 8vo. Original purple decorative cloth.
One of the most well-known and collectable of Lane's important 'Keynotes' series, this being the seventh in the series, and the first of two appearances therein for the "King of Redonda" (the other being his influential work Shapes in the Fire, number XXIX). Aubrey Beardsley provided the title-page/cover designs and most if not all of the monogram key devices for the series up until vol.XXIII. Prince Zaleski was Shiel's first published work, drawing inspiration in part from the detective tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and comprising three mysteries: "The Race of Orven", "The Stone of the Edmundsbury Monks", and "The S.S.", each to be solved by the eponymous Zaleski, an eccentric Russian nobleman living in exile in a derelict Welsh abbey.
Weird & Supernatural
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.
Bram Stoker Birthday
London, William Rider, 1922.
'New Edition'. 8vo. Original blue cloth stamped in lighter blue. Dust-jacket.
Rare jacketed edition of Stoker's gripping tale of secrets and supernatural forces set against the treacherous backdrop of a coastal town, where a writer becomes entangled in a mysterious love affair and unearths a haunting truth.
Weird & Supernatural
or, Animal Hauntings and the Hereafter
London, Rider, 1913.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth.
Irish author and paranormal investigator O'Donnell ponders on the zoomorphic role played by animal spirits and similar in the afterlife.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Bles, 1924.
First edition. 8vo. Original burgundy cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
Scarce first edition of this weird & supernatural novel by Sullivan, centred on a jade god made by one Lung Sen which exerts a powerful influence over events, both strange and mysterious. The author incorporates telepathy and the atmosphere of the Far East.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Eveleigh Nash, 1911.
First edition. 8vo. Original purple cloth.
Irish author and paranormal investigator O'Donnell delves into various types of dreams and attempts to uncover their hidden meanings. He discusses the symbolism and oneirology of dream elements, exploring how dreams can offer insights into the subconscious mind, personal experiences, and even premonitions.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Grant & Murray, 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original buff cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
One of the rarest books by Scottish journalist, poet and scholar of the occult Lewis Spence, who wrote many books on mythology, folklore and paranormal phenomena. He was also a prolific writer of fiction, especially in the genres of fantasy and horror.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Selwyn & Blount, [1928].
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/-.
A further anthology from the Not at Night series; uncommon in such condition, especially given the fragility of the jackets.
Weird & Supernatural
London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1927.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket.
A remarkably scarce and obscure weird-mystery thriller by Scottish-Canadian 'Bard of the Yukon'. Unfortunately the jacket would appear to have resided on a bookshelf in the House of Fear for a tad too long due to its traumatised condition, but rare nevertheless!
Detective Fiction
London, Newnes, 1902.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth blocked in elaborate gilt to upper cover and spine, with inset black silhouette of the Hound to upper cover. With custom made morocco-backed cloth drop back box.
Without doubt one of the most thrilling and atmospheric adventures of everybody's favourite consulting detective, a glorious blend of goth pseudo supernatural and definitive Holmesian deductive scene stealing, The Hound of the Baskervilles exists very much in a realm of its own.
The novel, the third of four featuring Holmes, was the first tale to be published after Doyle threw his most notable creation off a waterfall, and its considerable commercial success was really the catalyst for Holmes' triumphal return to life. With more plots than Varney the Vampire (actually five in all, including red herrings...so we're exaggerating, because everyone knows Varney has about 750), it seems very much a harking back to the Victorian style of creeper, very Le Fanu or Wilkie Collins, with its diary entries, and letters, unearthed manuscript and doom laden portents uttered by gloomy locals staring out of windows overlooking marsh land. It's glorious and deeply enjoyable, and pretty scarce in this bright, sublime condition. Easily the best copy we have ever handled.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1925.
First edition. Inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jackets, priced 2/6.
Cool jacket artwork on this uncommon work in the original jacket, inscribed by the author on the half-title.
Weird & Supernatural
A Weird Legend
London, W.J. Sinkins, 1893.
First edition. Inscribed by C.H. Ross. 8vo. Floral endpapers. Original green cloth stamped in red.
A very good example of this rare first edition, a weird, Hugoesque tale about a wild child called Terra who is unleashed from the bowels of the earth to wreak havoc on the fortunes of Lord Netherdale and his family with her wicked & wanton ways. Inspired by the story of Mademoiselle Leblanc, the mysterious savage of Soigny, near Chalons, who died in Paris in 1780, it is probable that this work is also leveraging the pervading fin-de-siècle anxiety about the emerging 'new woman'.
This copy is inscribed by one of the authors, C.H. Ross, on the half-title, 'Miss Emily Burgess, with Charles Ross's kind regards, Feb 19th 1905.'
Weird & Supernatural
London, Richards Press, 1927.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An attractive first edition of this later novel by the 'original' King of Redonda, here in the decidedly uncommon, and rather appealing dust-jacket. "Matthew P. Shiel (I believe he was Irish) wrote a few novels I thought highly worth reading. At the moment I can call to mind only two titles which I've read: Children of the Wind and How the Old Woman Got Home." (Paul Bowles, author of The Sheltering Sky).
![Alternative view of Ripley [(LeRoy Robert)] The Omnibus Believe it or Not!](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/84912_2-300x400.jpg)
Weird & Supernatural
London, Stanley Paul, 1934.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
A compilation of amazing facts, objects and places as recorded by the then phenomenally prolific Ripley.
Weird & Supernatural
London, The Houghton Publishing Co., 1933.
First edition. Initialled presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original blue cloth stamped in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 5/-.
A known scarcity, especially in the extremely rare jacket and, as in this case, initialled & inscribed by the author. A great little collection of weird & supernatural tales by paranormal investigator Maby: "A rare work of uneven quality, dedicated to the unlikely combination of M.R. James and Edgar Allan Poe." (Shadows in the Attic, p.334)
Weird & Supernatural
London, A.D. Innes, 1898.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered & ruled in gilt.
One of three books drawing upon the author's experiences in Fiji and the South Sea Islands, where he had been based during his Colonial service. Short stories including some weird content.
Weird & Supernatural
A tale of love and adventure in Western China
London, The Sheldon Press, [c.1925].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/d.
A scarce book in the original dust-jacket.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Bell & Daldy, 1863.
First edition. 8vo. Original tooled brown cloth.
A compilation of imaginative representations of folk- & later tales. Uncommon.
Weird & Supernatural
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
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.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Constable, 1927.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Uncommon first edition, with witchcraft in large part serving as a metaphor for womanhood; the main character is not magical, but has been stigmatised and shunned by her community for her illegitimate children and for practising abortion.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Constable, 1936.
First edition, first printing. 8vo. Original green boards. Second printing dust-jacket, price-clipped but with 3/6 price on spine.
One of the finest works by an author known for his ability to "build up a unique sense of unease" (Brian Stableford, St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers, 1998).
Weird & Supernatural
London, Selwyn & Blount, [1920].
First edition, [one of 500 copies]. 8vo. Original boards with printed paper spine label. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
A rather remarkable copy of Hope Hodgson's first published verse collection, scarce in such condition and the original dust-jacket: "...most of what [Hodgson] wrote in this kind is here published for the first time. And in his poems, as in his prose, it is the mystery, the strength, the cruelty, the grimness and sadness of the sea the most potently appeal to him... For him the voices of the sea are the sighing or calling of its multitudinous dead, and there are lines in which he hints that one day he, too, will be called down to them..." A. St John Adcock's introduction. The attraction of Davy Jones' locker was not the author's demise ultimately however, instead he died in action during the First World War.