A story of three children and a toy newspaper
London, S.W. Partridge, 1919.
Fourth edition. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth. Dust-jacket.
Elizabeth Rebecca Ward (2 December 1880 – 16 April 1978) was a prolific English writer of popular verse, religious works, and works for children, writing under the pen-name Fay Inchfawn. Her works were serialised in women's magazines, and she was sometimes known as "The Poet Laureate of the Home".
London, Collins, 1937.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 16/-.
A travel narrative recording Lord Cottenham's journey across the United States. He drives by motor-car from New York to Los Angeles, returns by aeroplane, spends time in Hollywood, and takes a police-escorted tour through San Francisco's nightlife.
![Oliver F. Butler, Iraq, first edition, [c.1922]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/87399-300x300.jpg)
Travel
Photographic Studies
N.p., , n.d. [c.1922].
First edition. Oblong 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers, tied with pink string.
A beautiful series of photographs capturing scenes in Basra, Baghdad and Al-Qurnah. There are also handsome images of the Tigris, the Ruins of Babylon (Hillah) and the Ctesiphon Arch (Taq Kasra).
LibraryHub locates just two holdings in the UK, at Cambridge and SOAS.
Detective Fiction
London, Faber & Faber, 1949.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 9s6d.
Roy Vickers (1887-1965) was popular in Britain for mystery short-stories/novels.
![Harry Edmonds, The North Sea Mystery, first edition, [1930]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/87396-300x300.jpg)
Detective Fiction
London, Ward, Locke, [1930].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, publisher's number '304' to spine.
Classic inter-war era nautical thriller, from the author of The Death Ship (1933).
Detective Fiction
London, Collins, 1942.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
The third adventure of wise-cracking crime reporter Tony Carter.
![Anthony Morton, Versus the Baron, first edition, [1940]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/87394-300x300.jpg)
Detective Fiction
London, Sampson, Low, Marston, [1940].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
'The Baron Comes Back!'. When John Mannering ("The Baron") is offered a superb set of diamonds, he faces a dilemma...
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.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Stanley Paul, 1926.
First edition, first impression. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Uncommon title, especially signed, with werewolf elements.
Detective Fiction
Wineham, Henfield, Sussex, Poynings Press, 1946.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Plain burgundy cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Protagonist Lemmy Caution heads to London in pursuit of a woman. The situation escalates, and he needs help from Scotland Yard. The final entry in the "Lemmy Caution" series.
Modern Literature
London, The Harvill Press, 2005.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original board. Dust-jacket, priced £12.99.
Murakami is often credited with blending modern pop culture, myth, Japanese religious/spiritual traditions (especially Shintō), and psychological mystery. Kafka on the Shore is particularly significant for being one of his more ambitious, large-scale works, tightly integrating these themes, and for its acclaim in both Japan and globally.
London, Putnam, !938.
Second UK edition, fourth impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3s6d.
A canonical work of the Weimar period, reflecting the economic collapse, rise of unemployment, societal anxieties preceding Nazism.
Historical Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1930.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Romantic/adventure novel in the style of The Prisoner of Zenda.
Detective Fiction
London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1939.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
The plot involves the death of the Chinese ward of a well-known socialite and jade collector (Mrs. Allison), which brings under suspicion the Police Commissioner.
Modern Literature
London, Macmillan, 1961.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue/green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 13s6d.
"Safety does not come first. Goodness, Truth, and Beauty come first. Follow me." A first edition of Muriel Spark's most famous novel.
Detective Fiction
Burt (Michael, pseud. George Mattock Brookman Burt) The Case of the Fast Young Lady
London, Ward Lock, 1942.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
One of several novels by this author featuring his series character Roger Poynings.
London, Collins Crime Club, 1946.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
Published in the US as Cheat the Hangman.
American Literature
London, Macmillan, 1976.
UK uncorrected proof copy. 8vo. Plain brown wrappers.
Doctorow's weaving of real historical figures (e.g. Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Emma Goldman) with fictional ones helps give it both documentary weight and narrative drama. It's one of his most recognised works. The use of ragtime (music, culture) as metaphor and structural mood is significant.
![Bodenham West, The Throwbacks, first edition, [1935]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/87376-300x300.jpg)
Modern Literature
London, Skeffington, [1935].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A tale of family rivalries and resentments, a man purchases a title by cheating his poorer relatives; the daughter of the aristocrat makes overtures to a poor male cousin.
![Eleanor Morse, She Left Her Husband, first edition, [1934]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/87375-300x300.jpg)
Modern Literature
London, Hutchinson, [1934].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
"...an exquisitely drawn picture of an unhappy marriage followed by a much-needed separation and offers an original solution to marital difficulties." (jacket blurb)
Children's Books
a collection of the world's best fairy tales from all countries
London, Jonathan Cape, 1929.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s.6d.
An anthology of fairy tales from many countries, including well-known ones like "Cinderella," "Beauty and the Beast," Hawthorne's "The Miraculous Pitcher," plus several anonymous and less popular tales. Wilson is better known as a novelist and essayist.
War, Invasion & Spy
A modern spy drama
London, Grayson & Grayson, 1933.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
An early example of this author's works in the adventure and spy genre. Born in 1892, Dearden had multiple roles (ice skater, dance school founder) and produced several novels across various genres.
Detective Fiction
London, Werner Laurie, 1951.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10s.6d.
A whodunit set against a hospital backdrop.
Non-Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1939.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Military fiction set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars.
![P.G. Wodehouse, The Heart of a Goof, Tenth impression, [c.1926]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/87370-300x300.jpg)
Modern Literature
London, Hebert Jenkins, n.d. [c.1926].
Tenth impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 5/-.
A collection of nine comic short stories, all narrated by "the Oldest Member" of a golf club.
![Alternative view of "Trill" [pseud. Harry C. Liebart]. The Sickle Murders](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/87369_2-300x300.jpg)
Detective Fiction
London, Lincoln Williams, 1935.
First edition, first impression. Inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
According to the Bear Alley blog the book is listed in the English Catalogue of Books as having appeared in February 1935 and it was listed under the pen-name "Trill". The publisher Lincoln Williams went into administration in July 1935 so the book probably wasn't reprinted. Trill was a pen name for Harry C. Liebart (as evidenced by the author's inscription on the frontispiece, and according to Hubin). Very scarce in a jacket.
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).