![Alternative view of [Erskine (Thomas, 1st Baron Erskine)] Armata:](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/87825_2-300x300.jpg)
A Fragment
London, John Murray, 1817.
Fourth edition. 8vo. Contemporary half calf.
An early and curious work of speculative fiction in which Thomas Erskine, former Lord Chancellor, imagines a hidden counterpart to the known world. Following a violent storm and shipwreck in the far southern seas, the narrator is cast upon the island of Armata, part of a parallel planet whose geography and civilisation mirror, yet subtly distort, those of Britain. Through this imagined society, Erskine constructs a utopian thought-experiment, using displacement and planetary doubling to explore questions of political order, social justice, war, and economic excess in the aftermath of the Napoleonic era. Part travel romance, part philosophical allegory, Armata stands as an early example of British proto-science-fiction, anticipating later nineteenth-century speculative and utopian narratives.
Weird & Supernatural
and other stories of the supernatural
London, John Murray, 1903.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original green pictorial cloth lettered in gilt to spine.
A notable collection of American ghost stories by Mary E. Wilkins (later Wilkins Freeman), whose work brought psychological depth and New England atmosphere to supernatural fiction; a respected voice in late-Victorian/Edwardian weird literature. Wilkins is now recognised as a key work in the tradition that fuses domestic realism with the ghost story, frequently cited in modern horror and fantasy bibliographies.
![Alternative view of Onions ([George] Oliver) Admiral Eddy](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/87530_2-300x300.jpg)
Modern Literature
London, John Murray, 1907.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth.
A work of nautical interest, by an author best remembered today for his ghost stories.
Modern Literature
London, John Murray, 1941.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 9s6d.
A wartime novel by Loveday Prior that continues themes from her earlier novel The Valley of Exile (1939) and addresses the rise of totalitarianism.
Detective Fiction
London, John Murray, 1930.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The novel follows Wilfred Steadmore, an educated and qualified man employed as a courier for Butler's, a major travel agency. The narrative explores both his professional and personal life: his travels and dealings as a courier, and the turbulence of his marriage.
London, John Murray, 1934.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth.
One of the earliest analytical works on British fascism, preceding the war-time suppression of the BUF, often cited in bibliographies of fascist and anti-fascist literature.
Detective Fiction
Lees (Hannah, pseud. Elizabeth Head Fetter) and Lawrence Bachmann. Death in the Doll’s House
London, John Murray, 1944.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
Psychological elements in a murder mystery involving a six-year-old child... basis for the 1950 film Shadow on the Wall.
including a residence among the Bakhtiyari and other wild tribes before the discovery of Nineveh
London, John Murray, 1887.
First edition. 2 vol. 8vo. Original decorative cloth lettered in gilt to spine.
In 1840-42 the archaeologist and diplomat Henry Layard travelled through Iran and Iraq, learning Arabic and Persian and venturing among tribal peoples such as the Bakhtiyari. In this two-volume memoir he describes visits to ancient sites, encounters with local rulers, a lion hunt and evenings where chiefs recited poetry.
Modern Literature
Stories stranger than fiction
London, John Murray, 1941.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, John Murray, 1929.
First collected edition thus. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The first omnibus of Holmes's longer adventures.
London, John Murray, 1950.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 21s.
Fermor recounts his travels through the Caribbean, providing vivid descriptions of the islands' cultures, histories, and landscapes
Detective Fiction
London, John Murray, 1932.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, sticker of '28' to spine.
A vividly told tale of piracy at the beginning of the 18th century, focusing on the trial and execution of Captain Green, an English seafarer accused of piracy by the Scots.
Detective Fiction
The story of coxe and the box
London, John Murray, 1930.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
This novel by 'Beau Geste' author Wren centres on Algernon Coxe, a neurotic young man under the influence of his domineering mother, Miranda.
Historical Fiction
London, John Murray, 1932.
First omnibus edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, multiple small price stickers for 12/6.
Comprising Rodney Stone, Uncle Bernac, Exploits of Brigadier Gerard and Adventures of Gerard. An attractive edition.
![[Irving (Washington)], "Geoffrey Crayon". The Sketch Book...](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/86494-300x300.jpg)
![Alternative view of [Irving (Washington)], "Geoffrey Crayon". The Sketch Book...](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/86494_9-300x400.jpg)
American Literature
London, John Murray, 1820.2 vol., complete. Vol.I third UK edition; vol.II first UK edition. 8vo. Contemporary sprinkled calf, uniformly rebacked in later calf gilt to style.An important work, and edition, of this collection by Washington Irving, not least as the first edition of the second volume sees the first appearance in the UK of 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'. Volume I was originally published in the UK by Washington Irving himself, under John Miller's Burlington Arcade imprint, in February 1820. Miller was declared bankrupt in April 1820 so The Sketch Book was taken up by publishers John Murray, who published the completed edition in two volumes that year. The collection is also notable for featuring 'Rip Van Winkle'.The work is also considered significant as the first widely read work of American literature in Britain and Europe, helping advance the reputation of American writers with an international audience.
Travel
London, John Murray, 1926.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 21/-.
A travelogue written by Angus Buchanan, a Scottish explorer and naturalist, and was published in 1926. The book documents Buchanan's extensive travels across the Sahara Desert, covering his journey from Morocco to Egypt.
Modern Literature
London, John Murray, [1960].
First edition. Inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
Attractive first edition of the author' second book, inscribed 'Francis from Julian March 1960'. The Francis in question is probably Francis Wyndham, a contemporary English author.
Modern Literature
London, John Murray, 1959.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange boards. Dust-jacket.
Attractive first edition of this the only novel by the renowned Scottish sceenwriter Tory Martin Kennedy, famously creator of Z-Cars, and script writer for such films as The Italian Job and Kelly's Heroes.
Horror & Gothic
London, John Murray, 1922.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt.
A scarce golfing murder mystery set on a links in Cornwall during the Miners' Strike, and featuring a shell-shocked war veteran.
London, John Murray, 1937.
First UK edition, second enlarged edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 12s 5d.
Scarce in the dust-jacket. This 'second edition' builds considerably upon the Baghdad edition of 1932, including the addition of ten sketches.
Detective Fiction
Lees (Hannah, pseud. Elizabeth Head Fetter) and Lawrence Bachmann. Death in the Doll’s House
London, John Murray, 1944.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
Psychological elements in a murder mystery involving a six-year-old child... basis for the 1950 film Shadow on the Wall.
Detective Fiction
Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes.
London, John Murray, 1917
First edition. 8vo. 6pp. advertisements. Original cloth.
A collection of previously published Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, including the titular short story, 'His Last Bow: The War Service of Sherlock Holmes'.