Modern Literature
A Comedy in Three Acts
London, Chatto & Windus, 1926.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original stiff card printed wrappers.
Awarded the 1925 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this comedy was the basis for Frank Loesser's acclaimed Broadway musical The Most Happy Fella (1957). Howard also wrote the screenplay for Gone with the Wind (1939).
A new edition including many pieces now first published, and notices of his life and work by Edmund Blunden
London, Chatto & Windus, 1931.
First edition thus, first impression. 8vo. Original purple cloth.
The 1931 Blunden edition adds nineteen poems to the first edition of 1920 edited by Siegfried Sassoon, and represents the second major collected edition of Owen's work.
Non-Fiction
Foreword by Daniel Halévy. Introduction by Edward Crankshaw. Translated from the French by Gerard Hopkins
London, Chatto & Windus, 1951.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Czapski's account of the years following his release from Soviet captivity, during which he was tasked with investigating the disappearance of thousands of missing Polish officers - ultimately murdered by Stalin's NKVD at Katyn.
Children's Books
London, Chatto & Windus, 1917.
13th edition. Small 8vo. Original pictorial cloth.
Helen Bannerman (1862–1946) wrote the story during a long railway journey in India as a gift for her two daughters, never intending it for publication; it was shown to E.V. Lucas, who agreed to publish it as the fourth title in his "Dumpy Books for Children" series.
Non-Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, [c.1932].
First edition. 8vo. Original dark cloth. Dust-jacket, with price sticker '3/6 first cheap edition'.
Weird & Supernatural
seven stories and a play London, Chatto & Windus, 1935.First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in silver. Dust-jacket.A collection of supernatural and eerie tales. Blends historical and Gothic elements, showing Irwin's talent for uncanny atmosphere.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1965.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Tamara Dragadze's novel is steeped in Moroccan culture, with references to Casablanca, couscous, djellabas and Ramadan.
Detective Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, 1953.
First edition, first impression. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 12s6d.
Social unrest leads to sabotage at an Admiralty dockyard. Scarce signed.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1977.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1987.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1968.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1976.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1974.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Winner of the Whitbread literary award for Fiction.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1969.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1976.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1962.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 18s., with original publisher's promotional band.
Murdoch's sixth novel, a domestic drama unfolding after the death of Fanny Peronett. Retired civil servant Hugh Peronett sees his acerbic son Randall's life unravel through an affair, while Hugh reignites a long-dormant romance with his former lover, novelist Emma Sands, all framed within simmering family tensions...
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1964 [1963].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 21s.
Byatt's first novel, an examination of the relationship between a girl and her father. Uncommon.
London, Chatto & Windus, 1895.
First edition. Publisher's advertisements dated Nov. 1895. 8vo. Original blind-tooled cloth lettered in gilt.
Dick Donovan was a pseudonym used by Joyce Emmerson Preston Muddock (1842–1934), who wrote numerous detective stories and thrillers.
American Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1951.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, 9s6d.
A collection of six stories featuring Gavin Stevens, the county attorney of Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County. Stevens investigates various crimes, offering insights into human nature and justice. The stories blend elements of mystery and Southern Gothic.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1936.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket.
Attractive jacket on this first edition of New Zealand author Escott's most famous work, set in New Zealand.
Detective Fiction
etc.
London, Chatto & Windus, 1906.
'A New Impression'. 8vo. Original pictorial boards.
A collection of maritime-themed stories blending adventure with supernatural elements, reflecting Russell's seafaring background. Russell was a prominent writer of nautical fiction in the late 19th century, influencing the genre significantly.
Weird & Supernatural
seven stories and a play
London, Chatto & Windus, 1935.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in silver. Dust-jacket, price-clipped but with 7/6 price sticker to inside front flap.
A collection of supernatural and eerie tales. Blends historical and Gothic elements, showing Irwin's talent for uncanny atmosphere.
American Literature
Twain (Mark, pseud. Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Life on the Mississippi
London, Chatto &Windus, 1883.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red pictorial cloth lettered in gilt.
Life on the Mississippi is a memoir by Mark Twain recounting his experiences as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War. Collectors often seek copies with the advertisements dated March 1883 at the rear, indicating the first impression
London, Chatto & Windus, 1888.
First UK edition. 8vo. Contemporary calf gilt prize presentation binding, marbled endpapers and edges.
Julian Hawthorne (1846–1934) was an American writer and journalist, the son of famed novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. He authored numerous novels, short stories, and essays, often delving into mystery and speculative fiction.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1961.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original brown boards. Dust-jacket, priced 18s.
A satirical novel centred on Martin Lynch-Gibbon, a 41-year-old wine merchant who believes he can maintain both his marriage to his wife, Antonia, and an affair with his younger mistress, Georgie. The novel was adapted into a successful stage play in 1963 and later into a film in 1970, starring Claire Bloom, Lee Remick, Richard Attenborough and Ian Holm.
![Susan Cooper, [The Dark is Rising series], mixed editions/impressions, 1974-73-77.](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/86347-300x300.jpg)
![Alternative view of Cooper (Susan) [The Dark is Rising series].](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/86347_2-300x400.jpg)
Children's Books
Comprising: Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; Silver on the Tree
London, Chatto & Windus, 1974-1973-1977.
Over Sea, Under Stone, first edition thus, the rest first editions, first impressions except The Grey King (2nd impression). Together 5 vol. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jackets.
A complete set of Susan Cooper's modern classic of children's literature, introducing readers to a parallel world of old magic and an epic battle between light & dark.
Poetry
Selected and edited by W.M. Rossetti
London, Chatto & Windus, 1926.
'Fine Paper Edition'. 8vo. Original buckram-backed pattered boards. Dust-jacket, priced 6s.
Uncommon, finely-printed edition of Whitman's poems, particularly in the jacket. Selected and edited by one of the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1929.
First edition. 8vo. Original marbled boards. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
The third novel by the author of Kingdoms of Elfin.
Non-Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, 1943.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 5s.
A very good first edition of this post-war prediction that seeks to outline the difficulties Europe in particular faces once the Second World War is over.
Detective Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped and with price-sticker 7/6.
Twelve stories showcasing Household's literary flair above and beyond the spy/thriller genre he is normally associated with. Attractive dust-jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, 1902.
First edition. 8vo. Title printed in red & black with device; publisher's catalogue at end dated March 1902. Original gilt pictorial blue cloth.
Attractive first edition from the creator of Raffles the gentleman thief, in which a woman is accused of her husband's murder - one of Hornung's works which is considered to provide a favourably modern portrayal of a female protagonist.
Detective Fiction
related by Christopher Jervis, M.D.
London, Chatto & Windus, 1916.
First edition, reissue with tipped-in title 1916. 8vo. Original first edition cloth.
A nice first edition of a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone, relating stories of medical detection. The book uses the first editions sheets and binding, but has an updated title-page.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1956.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
An attractive first edition of the author's second novel, in the wonderful Edward Bawden dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1964 [1963].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 21s.
Byatt's first novel, an examination of the relationship between a girl and her father. Uncommon.
American Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1951.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket.
The US author's debut novel, and the most well regarded and critically acclaimed of his works, winner of the 1967 William Faulkner Foundation Award for notable first novel.
Modern Literature
A Soldier of Humour and other stories
London, Chatto & Windus, 1927.
First edition, Centaur Library issue. 8vo. Original red cloth lettered in black. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
The Centaur Library issue of these stories from the vector of vorticism Wyndham Lewis, printed from the first edition sheets but in different binding, and the series jacket design by the graphic artist Edward Bawden (as opposed to the boring typographic one on the first issue).
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1929.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d, with the original Choice of the Book Society wraparound band.
The distinctive first UK edition of Hughes' High Wind in Jamaica, a genre redefining work set largely on the high seas - with pirates! Uncommon in the original wraparound.