Modern Literature
London, Constable, 1936.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An adventure novel set in the French Foreign Legion milieu, by American journalist and adventure writer Rourke.
A record of travel & exploration
London, Constable, 1922.
First edition. 2 vols, 8vo. Original dark green cloth lettered in gilt to spines.
A travel narrative: Philby describes his expedition across central Arabia (from the Arabian Gulf via Al Uqayr, through the desert, meeting Ibn Sa'ud in Riyadh, then crossing towards the Red Sea, arriving in Jeddah at end-1917).
Modern Literature
London, Constable, 1932.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Brandane continues his exploration of Highland life, rural character and social change, themes for which he was well-known as both a playwright and a novelist.
Detective Fiction
London, Constable, 1958.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Constable, 1935.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A sprawling novel of music, ambition, and complex relationships. It features composer Edmund Abbey, his wife, and her admirer, with interwoven flashbacks across the artistic and operatic world. In attractive Barbosa jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Constable, 1932.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in red to spine. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Sports & Pastimes
Fergusson (W.N.) Advenure Sport and Travel on the Tibetan Steppes
London, Constable, 1911.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth lettered in gilt to spine.
This work chronicles the journeys of Lieutenant John Weston Brooke through China and Eastern Tibet between 1906 and 1908. Based on Brooke's diaries and supplemented by W.N. Fergusson's observations and photographs, the narrative offers insights into the challenges and experiences of early 20th-century exploration in these regions. Tragically, Brooke was killed by Lolo robbers in December 1908.
Modern Literature
A novel
London, Constable, [1949].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Guy McCrone was a Scottish author, renowned for his novels depicting Glasgow society in the early 20th century.
Detective Fiction
London, Constable, 1931.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
An early title by Gielgud, seemingly his third, exceptionally rare in the dust-jacket. The search for missing Russian imperial treasure amidst the 1917 Revolution.
Modern Literature
London, Constable, 1947.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt to spine. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6.
Very good first edition of this novel set in 1943 in the fictional town of Thames Lockdon (based on Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire).
London, Constable, 1934.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Uncommon title in jacket, from the pen of the creator of Inspector Artifex of Scotland Yard.
Detective Fiction
London, Constable, 1977.
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced £3.75.
West Country thriller by Roger Longrigg with a charismatic local character getting caught up with a protection racket organised by an old nemesis.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Constable, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Hamilton's famous satirical novel that offers a critical view of contemporary British society through the lens of a fantastical and dystopian world. Hamilton, known for his plays and novels that often explored the darker aspects of urban life and the psyche, uses this work to skewer the class system, commercialism and the dehumanising aspects of industrialisation.
The novel's significance in 20th century literature lies in its blend of social critique and fantasy, a combination that was somewhat unconventional at the time. Hamilton's use of a parallel world to mirror and exaggerate the issues of his own society makes Impromptu in Moribundia a precursor to the later works of dystopian fiction that would become more prominent in British literature. It stands as a unique and imaginative critique of the socio-political climate of the era, reflecting the anxieties and criticisms of the interwar period.
American Literature
London, Constable, 1932.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth stamped in yellow. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
The first UK edition of the second in Dos Passos's 'USA Trilogy', in which he evaluates the damage done by World War I. Nineteen Nineteen focuses on the fear and social unrest on the home front.
Detective Fiction
London, Constable, 1955.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6.
Equestrian murder mystery.
Detective Fiction
London, Constable, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Suitably ominous jacket artwork on this uncommon first edition; one of at least three works by Scottish author Curle, better known today for his friendship with and works about Joseph Conrad.
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).
Detective Fiction
London, Constable, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Tales of Chinatown and Limehouse: "horrible, ironical, whimsically aloof"
London, Constable, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in white. Dust-jacket, priced 2s.6d.
A first-class mystery... a story of dark doings, with a pleasant background of East coast life... (Daily Telegraph). Attractive jacket artwork, and a scarce first edition, here in a slightly later issue jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Constable, 1924.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6, with publisher's 'file' sticker to spine. Publisher's promotional card loosely inserted.
A tale of mild villainy and opportunism featuring a parasitical couple on the fringes of cosmopolitan society. Attractive jacket artwork by A. Mary Ryland.