African literature
London, Heinemann, 1958.
First edition, first impression; 8vo. Original brick-red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
The first edition of Nigerian author Achebe's first novel, one of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'. Things Fall Apart is the first part of the author's 'African Trilogy', a compelling story of one man's battle to protect his community against the forces of change, seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first to receive global critical acclaim. It is a literary staple of schools throughout Africa and is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. Scarce.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1928.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
A splendid example of the first UK edition, seemingly considerably scarcer than its US counterpart. A murder mystery novel and early predecessor to Silence of the Lambs, with a cold-hearted doctor helping a man bent on finding his brother's murderer.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1951.
First edition. 8vo. Original grey cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d, stamped 'overseas edition' to foot of lower panel.
First edition of Greene's meditation on love, hate and faith.
War, Invasion & Spy
or, The British Agent
London, Heinemann, 1928.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt and with publisher's and author's device in black. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6 to spine.
A great copy, benefitting from some professional conservational work to the jacket, of the author's spy stories, based largely on his own undercover experiences in Europe & Russia. It is believed that initially there were 31 stories but 14 had to be destroyed on Churchill's orders as they were in breach of the Official Secrets Act. Many authors of spy fiction have acknowledged the importance and merit of this work over the years, including John Le Carré, Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, Julian Symons and Raymond Chandler.
Historical Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1966.
First edition. 8vo. Original terracotta boards. Dust-jacket, priced 30s.
The first volume of Scott's famous 'Raj Quartet'.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1934.
First edition. Autograph letter from the author (as Shearing) tipped in at front endpapers. 8vo. Original pink cloth.
A murder mystery, based on the unsolved murder of Harriet Buswell in 1872. The autograph letter from Bowen to the Scottish lawyer and keen amateur criminologist William Roughead is dated December 1939, and mentions a book of his published that same year, Neck or Nothing.
![Joseph Shearing [Marjorie Bowen], Orange Blossom, first edition, with A.L.s., 1938](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/85663-300x300.jpg)
Horror & Gothic
London, Heinemann, 1938.
First edition. 1½ page autograph letter from the author tipped in at front. 8vo. Original orange-brown cloth lettered in gilt.
A superb association copy: Roughead's writings inspired the Shearing novel The Fetch (dedicated to him). The book is notable for containing the ghost story 'They Found my Grave' not available elsewhere in the reprint collections issued in the author's lifetime. Edward Wagenknecht was exuberant about this ghost story in his essay on Marjorie Bowen (Seven Masters of the Supernatural), praising its 'atmosphere of evil'.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1959.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket, priced 13s6d.
A very good first edition of this later adventure of Aboriginal Australian detective DI Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1960.
First edition. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket.
An excellent first edition of this later adventure of Aboriginal Australian detective DI Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1961.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, priced sticker of £1.75 over original price 13s6d.
A very good first edition of this later adventure of Aboriginal Australian detective DI Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, [1960].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original dark blue boards. Dust-jacket, 13s6d.
A very good first edition of this later adventure of Aboriginal Australian detective DI Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte.
African literature
London, Heinemann, 1960.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 13s6d.
A lovely first edition of this tale of Lagos corruption by Nigerian writer Achebe, the scarce second volume in Achebe's landmark 'African trilogy'.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Excellent jacket artwork by the always fantastic Youngman Carter (Allingham's husband) graces this the eighth Campion title by Margery Allingham. A scarce and important first edition in the crime fiction canon.
Weird & Supernatural
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.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1958.
First edition. 8vo. Original dark blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
The second novel in Burgess's Malayan trilogy, set in Dahaga (Malayan for 'thirsty) and following the rise & fall of British expat Victor Crabbe, a microcosm of the waning influence of the British Empire.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1939
First UK edition. 8vo. Not original publisher's cloth, some sort of library binding. Photographic dust-jacket correctly priced at 7s 6d on front flap.
Published in US as 'Poor, poor Yorick.' A Hubin-listed title involving the dumping of a corpse off the coast of Connecticut and the apparent suicide by poisoning of a hostess on the eve of divorce.
Frederick Clyde Davis (1902-1977) was an American pulp writer. He was educated at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, and became a professional writer at the age of 22. Davis wrote several novels featuring his series detective, Professor Cy Hatch of which this is one.
Weird & Supernatural
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.
American Literature
London, Heinemann, 1931.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
The first UK edition of this tale of Polish immigrant workers in New England which weaves a complex social history of the period, commencing with the stock market crash of 1929. Ferber is best known today perhaps as the author of Show Boat and Giant.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1927.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A collection of short stories by the Pulitzer Prize winning author Edna Ferber, famously author of So Big, Show Boat and Giant. The jacket with its 'vignette' illustrations is definitely uncommon, and in our opinion more attractive than the first US equivalent.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Heinemann, 1956.
First edition. 8vo. Original dark pink boards. Dust-jacket, pried 13s 6d.
The first edition of this keystone sci-fi work, fascinating on numerous levels, not least for the 'space-folding' capabilities of the indigenous 'dominant beings'.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth.
A first edition from master storyteller Graham Greene, the tale of ne'er-do-well Anthony Farrant, who has boasted, lied and cheated his way through jobs all over the world.
Modern Literature
First edition.
London, Heinemann, 1955.
A tale of romance, gambling, revenge and redemption, subject to two film adaptations.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Heinemann, 1958.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 15s.
A very good first edition of Greene's blackly comic espionage thriller, set amid the vice and squalor of pre-revolutionary Havana.
Detective Fiction
Hale (Christopher, pseud. Frances Moyer Stevens) Stormy Night.
A Detective Story London, Heinemann, 1937. First UK edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket. A woman dead in the sleet at the bottom of an empty swimming pool, with two bullets in her body, but only one wound...
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1926.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A collection of short stories by the author of The Well of Loneliness.
Modern Literature
The Turning of the Screw; Covering End
London, Heinemann, 1898.
First edition. Title printed in red & black. 8vo. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt with Beardsley-esque blind-stamped design to upper cover.
The first publication in book form of James's iconic ghost story 'The Turn of the Screw' as well as his 'Covering End'. 'The Turn of the Screw' was first published in Collier's Weekly and revised slightly for book publication, and 'Covering End' was first published in this edition.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1960.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original burgundy cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 16s.
A very good example of the distinctive first UK edition of Harper Lee's famous novel.
African literature
Introduction by Oliver Tambo. Edited by Ruth First
London, Heinemann, 1965.
First edition. 8vo. Original black boards lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket.
A very good first edition of Mandela's collected early writings, including his famous speech at the Rivonia Trial (1964). Distinctly uncommon, preceding his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom by almost thirty years.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1919.
First edition, first issue (4pp. ads including three titles by Israel Zangwill). 8vo. Original sage green cloth lettered and decorated in black, with author's device.
A very nice first issue of Somerset Maugham's famous first-person novel inspired by the life of French painter Paul Gauguin.
London, Heinemann, 1963.
First edition. 8vo. Original burgundy boards. Dust-jacket, priced 21s.
The important consideration on the history and development of Ghana, by the Ghanaian politician, political theorist and revolutionary Kwame Nkrumah, who served as the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1929.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Written as a sequel to the original Freckles (1904), written by the author's mother Gene Stratton-Porter. The book was the basis for the 1942 film of the same name.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1969.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket.
The first UK edition of Puzo's gangster classic, made hugely well-known through the film series by Francis Ford Copolla.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1949.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt to spine and with gilt illustration to upper cover; dust-jacket, priced 9s6d.
Dodie Smith's first published novel, a coming-of-age tale set against a backdrop of a decaying English castle and eccentric family life.
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1964.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards stamped in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 30s.
The debut novel of Rhodesian writer Wilbur Smith, increasingly scarce in such condition.
Bram Stoker Birthday
London, Heinemann, 1905.
First edition. 8vo. Original deep red cloth titled in gilt. With a note from Stoker tipped in to the front flyleaf on Bedford Street notepaper dated 1st September 1905.
An extremely handsome association copy of a rare piece of Stoker. The note from Stoker reads:
"My Dear Hatton, I hope you will care for my new novel The Man, of which a copy herewith...[illegible in peak Stoker fashion], Heinemann from September 8th, Yours ever, Bram Stoker."
The Hatton in question is almost certainly Joseph Hatton, friend and collaborator of Stoker, and a celebrated (at the time) author in his own right, who had worked with Stoker on a couple of rather sizeable projects including The Reminiscences of Henry Irving in America, and the "Crowdsourced from the Usual Suspects" late Victorian portmanteau thriller which was "The Fate of Fenella."
Bram Stoker Birthday
London, Heinemann, 1908.
First edition, inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original red cloth, stamped in black to upper cover and gilt to spine.
Inscribed on preliminary page to: 'Mrs George Burrell with Bram Stoker's (respectful) love 8/6/09'
Mrs. George Burrell is most likely the wife of the Glasgow shipping magnate, a tremendously important and influential figure in late 19th century shipping, who like many rich Victorians became something of a patron of the arts.