Children's Books
from the Walt Disney production
London & Glasgow, Collins, [1944]..
First UK edition. 4to. Original cloth-backed boards with illustration to upper cover.
A very good first UK edition of Roald Dahl's first book, that launched his career as a writer of nuanced children's literature. The story builds on an RAF legend of mischievous/malicious sprites that hamper the missions of fighter & bomber pilots during the Second World War.
Detective Fiction
New York, Duell, Sloan & Pearce, 1942.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in blue to spine. Dust-jacket, priced $2.00.
The first edition of this title by William Anthony Parker White, aka Anthony Boucher, writing under the pseudonym he adopted from a 19th century serial killer. The jacket is stylistically similar to the contemporary Knopf editions of Chandler.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Hutchinson, [1928].
First edition. 8vo. Original burgundy cloth.
Benson's sixth collection of stories, featuring 12 tales.
Modern Literature
London, Lovat Dickson, 1935.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original green cloth with black spine label. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
Oil and the Tropics provide the backdrop for this uncommon title.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Translated by Winifred Ray
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1933.
First UK edition, first issue. 8vo. Original light blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
The scarce first English edition of this compelling blend of science fiction, horror and utopian fantasy, revolving around a hunchbacked scientist's attempts to become master of the world by removing all memory. Listed in Bleiler and Locke.
Detective Fiction
London, Collins Crime Club, 1944.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
Jocular Ellie McKay, of the Yard, and his book-selling friend Gilkison, happen in on the murder of a cussed old codger, bibliomaniac Hatt Baildon.
Children's Books
London, Methuen, [1908].
Early edition. 8vo. Advertisements dated February 1908. Original pictorial red cloth lettered in gilt to spine.
A handsome copy of this early edition of Mitford's adventure tale, originally published in 1904.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Newnes, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
Sci-fi crime thriller aimed at a younger audience.
Detective Fiction
Eustace (Robert, pseud. Eustace Robert Barton) A Human Bacillus
London, John Long, 1907.
First edition. 8vo. Advertisements. Original red pictorial cloth.
An attractive example of this rare first edition, a medical detective thriller.
Modern Literature
A Romance from Shakespeare's Play
London, Alston Rivers, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
A respectful retelling of Shakespeare's play, drawing upon old Scandinavian accounts and sources.
Weird & Supernatural
A Tale of Amazing Adventure in the Under-World
London [&c.], Cassell, 1906.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial green cloth lettered in gilt.
Published six years before Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, this Verne-inspired lost-world novel concerns a werewolf-like race living in the hollows of the earth.
Food & Drink
London, Herbert Jenkins, n.d. [1930s].
"Fifteenth Large Edition". 8vo. Original pictorial green cloth. Dust-jacket.
A lovely little book on cocktails, released by Wodehouse's publisher Jenkins - perfect complement to any Wodehouse collection.
London, The Bodley Head, 1924.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red blind-tooled cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Attractive English edition of this uncommon title by Swedish author Heller, translated by Pauline de Chary.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Reinhardt, 1956.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
The first collected edition of short stories by the author of I am Legend (1965).
War, Invasion & Spy
Translated by John Colville
London, Duckworth, 1938.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
"Here is the first great novel of the Spanish Civil War." (jacket blurb).
Weird & Supernatural
Esteven (John, pseud. Samuel Shellabarger) Blind Man’s Night
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1938.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.
The first UK edition of this weird tale by American author and educationalist Shellabarger. The Montenera Inn is an old tavern with an evil reputation. When the indomitable Mrs. Lee leases it to support her family, she tells neighbors that she isn't interested in nonsense of that sort. However, when faced with a mysterious theft and attempted murder, she has to wonder if the inn's reputation is justified.
Sports & Pastimes
Sport, Legend, and Natural History in Cape Colony
London, Longmans, Green, 1889.
First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth decorated and lettered in gilt.
Bryden was an English solicitor, athlete and sportsman, playing rugby for England in 1874. He was a keen hunter and naturalist and travelled widely. He then became a professional author writing about wildlife and his hunting experiences, as evidenced here.
Detective Fiction
London [&c.], Hutchinson, 1957.
First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 11/6.
One of the later Inspector Saturnin Dax titles by this prolific author, with contemporary gift inscription from the author to 'Bill' Bayliss.