Modern Literature
London, Sampson Low, [1933].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A very good first edition of this uncommon title, on which this author's reputation primarily resides.
Modern Literature
The novel of the play by Arnold Ridley and Bernard Merivale
London, Selwyn & Blount, 1928.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Striking jacket artwork adorns this tale of railway sabotage.
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, [1936].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Classic stuff by Jean Barre, here writing under her own name rather than a pseudonym.
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, [1934].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Another attractive first edition by Wright & Brown, written by one of their more prolific authors.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
An attractive first edition of this uncommon title, in the distinctive Jenkins jacket by Abbey. The tale of a somewhat high-minded and presumptuous would-be match-maker, told in a humorous vein.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1959.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 12s.6d.
A couple discover that their child-sitter served a prison sentence for child murder, something they cannot square with the individual in question, sparking their own investigation and the unravelling of some strange secrets.
Children's Books
London, George Newnes, 1945.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
The third of the 'Naughtiest Girl' series by Enid Blyton, recounting the ongoing adventures & misadventures of Elizabeth Allen & chums at the progressive boarding school Whyteleafe. The series was rebooted in 1999 by British author Anne Digby. Due to the war-time production values the Blyton titles from the series are all tricky to find in good condition.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Methuen, 1939. First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, cheaper issue jacket correctly priced 4s.6d. A scarce edition of this the third title in Burroughs' 'Pellucidar' series, set in a hollow earth environment. Wonderful jacket artwork.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1964.
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
A very good first edition of this later Dr Palfrey tales, by one of the most prolific authors in the crime/thriller genre.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A wonderful first edition of this novel, recounting the adventures, misadventures and epiphanies of a disparate collection of characters cloistered together in a large holiday house.
Uncategorized
London, John Long, [1930s].
50th thousand. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Originally published by Long in 1914, this popular title by a highly prodigious author is here "rebooted" with an attractive jacket design by an unidentified artist. The title was published as The Bartenstein Mystery in the US.
Detective Fiction
Further Crime Investigations of Madame Storey.
London, Collins Crime Club, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth (red issue). Dust-jacket, second state, correctly priced 3/6.
The ongoing exploits of Footner's serial character, the brilliant lady detective, Madame Storey, set in Paris. The second issue jacket is to a wholly different design than the first, and as a result considered highly collectable.
Detective Fiction
London, Mills & Boon, 1929.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
The first UK edition of this crime thriller; Mills & Boon today have a reputation for "romantic fiction", but they were early champions of several subsequently famous authors, including Jack London and P.G. Wodehouse.
Detective Fiction
Iles (Frances, pseud. Anthony Berkeley Cox) Malice Aforethought.
The story of a commonplace crime
London, Mundanus / Gollancz, 1931.
First edition (preceding the hardback). 8vo. Original printed wrappers. Housed in morocco-backed cloth slip-case and chemise.
An uncommon work by Anthony Berkeley Cox, aka Anthony Berkeley. The work is significant in the genre of crime fiction as one of the earliest and finest examples of the inverted detective story, a technique which would go on to inspire numerous other authors, as well as film-makers - notably Hitchcock and his 1941 film Suspicion (actually based on another, similar Iles title).
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, [1937].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
Another attractive first edition by Wright & Brown, written by one of their more prolific authors.
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, [1938].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
An attractive first edition of this modern tale of romance, from an uncommon imprint.
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, [1936].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A very good first edition, with evocative jacket artwork by Wright & Brown work-horse W.J. Roberts.
Uncategorized
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1934.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A lovely first edition of this uncommon tale of Anglo-Indian love. The jacket artwork is by the renowned illustrator Charles Robinson, brother to W. Heath, and must number among his last commissions (as he died in 1937).
Detective Fiction
London, Thornton Butterworth, [c.1934].. Crime Circle Novels series. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6. An attractive edition of this teasingly lycanthropic novel, translated from the original French. The jacket design for the series is by Bip Pares, whose work also graced the jackets for Olaf Stapledon's Star Maker and James Hilton's Mr Chips titles, amongst many others.
Detective Fiction
London, Jarrolds, [1927]. First edition thus. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6. Although originally published in 1909, this later edition is quite superb in the original dust-jacket.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Harrap, 1939. First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price from inside flap removed by clumsy tear. An uncommon dust-jacket by jacket legend Youngman Carter, in better condition than normally found.
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, 1934. First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6. Another great example of thirties jacket artwork commissioned by publishers Wright & Brown, this time for their 3/6 series.
Modern Literature
London, George Allen & Unwin, 1924.
First English edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
...a most delightful picture of the 'interior' of a well-to-do Amsterdam printer-publisher's house (jacket blurb). A nice example of a 1920s dust-jacket, by the British painter, illustrator and linocut artist Dorothy Burroughes.
Modern Literature
Oxford, Blackwell, 1916.
First edition. 8vo. Original wrappers with printed labels.
The very scarce first published book by Dorothy L. Sayers, a collection of poetry, preceding her editorship of, and contributions to, Blackwell's Oxford Poetry. The author would of course go on to garner international acclaim and popularity for her detective fiction. Rare; we could trace no copies at auction since 1979.
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, [1934].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
An attractive jacket on this Wright & Brown title from the early thirties; a woman is exhausted and disillusioned, and sets off on an adventure of self-discovery.
Modern Literature
A romance of the air London, Wright & Brown, [1935]. First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket. A passionate predecessor to the "Mile High Club"...? An excellent dust-jacket, regardless.