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Weird & Supernatural
London, George Redway, [1888].
First edition, second issue. 8vo. Original blue pictorial cloth.
A repackaging of volume 3 of the scarce triple-decker Dreamland and Ghostland (1888) which includes five of the seven Conan Doyle short stories found in that collection (the first appearances by Conan Doyle in book form, preceding A Study in Scarlet). The sales were of the initial collection were poor and the publisher repackaged the sheets in separate volumes with new titles and bindings.
Weird & Supernatural
Stories from an old catalogue
London, Smith, Elder, 1916.
First edition, second impression. With loose 2pp. signed autograph letter from the author. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, remains of 6/- price sticker.
A great example of the first edition (albeit second impression) of this collection of historical tales, which includes two weird & supernatural tales, 'The fair hair of Ambrosine' and 'Gindetta's wedding night'. The accompanying autograph letter (mounted on card) from the author is dated 22nd May 1917, signed under her first married name, Gabrielle Costanzo (her husband Zefferino died in 1916 and this letter must have been written shortly before her second marriage to Arthur Long), and as 'Marjorie Bowen', referring to the collection: "… I think you will find another side of things in 'Shadows of Yesterday'. If these later stories partake too much of the character of a nightmare, it may be because they affect as moods of mine engendered by very terrible experiences of my own".
Weird & Supernatural
and other tales
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1929.
First edition. With loose autograph letter signed Gabrielle Long. 8vo. Original dark blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An excellent example of this short story collection, accompanied by a 1pp handwritten letter, dated 11th June 1938, signed Gabrielle Long, addressed to a Sir Charles, thanking him for inviting her to a meeting " … the prospect is rather a formidable one. I can however speak with sincere gratitude of the London Library."
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.
Weird & Supernatural
and other stories of yesterday and to-day
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1929.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in pale green.
A very good example of this rare collection of supernatural and historical short stories, including 'The Necromancers' (reprinted as 'The Incantation').
Weird & Supernatural
and other stories
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1927.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in pale blue.
Rare collection of short stories, including a number of supernatural tales, with a focus on women trapped in damaging relationships. The title story 'Dark Ann' is regarded as on of the author's best ghost stories.
Weird & Supernatural
and other stories
London, Selwyn & Blount, [1932].
First edition, second impression. 8vo. Original pale sage cloth. Dust-jacket.
An attractive collection of Bowen's short stories, including her story 'The Intruder'.
Travel
A Historical and Intimate Description of its Chief Places of Interest
Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Hankow, Yokohama, Kelly & Walsh, 1920.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth stamped in black and gilt.
A very good copy of this important essay on Peking in the 1920s, by an author who lived in China for many years and is well-regarded for her observations of Chinese life and history.
Detective Fiction
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1956.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards lettered in red. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
The author's first novel, introducing her series character John Coffin, albeit in a less primary role than that he took on from the fourth book.
American Literature
An essay toward an autobiography of a race concept
New York, Harcourt, Brace, 1940.
First edition. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $3.00.
An important work, regarded in part as one of the first scientific treatises in the field of American sociology. The title refers to his hope that African Americans were passing out of the darkness of racism into an era of greater equality.
Modern Literature
London, Collins, 1957.
First edition. 8vo. Publisher's review slip loosely inserted. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 16s.
Mason's most well-known work, inspired by the time he spent at the Luk Kwok Hotel in 1956 and the prostitution services he observed offered there.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Hutchinson, 1934.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, price removed from spine jacket.
The first edition of this collection of 13 short stories by Benson, comprising: "The Step", "The Bed by the Window", "James Lamp", "The Dance", "The Hanging of Alfred Wadham", "Pirates", "The Wishing-Well", "The Bath-Chair", "Monkeys", "Christopher Comes Back", "The Sanctuary", "Thursday Evenings", "The Psychical Mallards".
Weird & Supernatural
Original stories illustrating posthumous personality and character... Sole Edition
London, Roxburghe Press, [1894].
First edition. 8vo. Title-page printed in green. Original green cloth.
Scarce edition of weird stories: "...these blood-curdling tales are published on a novel plan. The fiction has never been serialised; during the continuance of the copyright no other edition will appear; there will be no sale after the last day of March, 1895. Every reader is thus made a participator in two advantages, for all the matter is fresh, and it is quite certain that the book can be safely purchased for presentation- if a friend's hair is to be turned into quills. And now a few words with regard to Phantasms. It may be judged from this engaging title that apparitions play at hide-and-seek among these pages. Only two of the stories are free of shudders, and we think we may venture to say that there are few readers, however jaded, however distant from the habit of shivering over bogies, who will not go somewhat mincingly to bed after spending the midnight with Mr. Wirt Gerrare." (The Literary World, vol.LI, 1895)
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Martin Secker, 1964.
First English edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 18s.
First English edition of the book that became the basis for 'The Planet of the Apes' films and the numerous spin-offs.
Modern Literature
A Book of Confessions
London, Thornton Butterworth, 1924.
First edition. 8vo. Original pale sage cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Highly attractive example of the first edition of this novel by the author of Limehouse Nights. The work describes growing up in London's East End, and is often believed to be largely autobiographical, although the author would comment in later years, "this has been taken to be my personal story, but it is a mixture. A few passages here and there have some autobiographical basis, but the treatments is at five or six removes from the actual." Scarce in the jacket, let alone in such condition.