London, Gerald G. Swan, 1960.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 12/6.
A great first edition of this weird tale, an exploration into the power & peril of telepathy… The author was a prolific writer, with works ranging from children's fantasy to weird sci-fi and spy fiction.
Detective Fiction
London, John Murray, 1926.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A highly collectable title and edition from the author of Unleavened Bread (1900), featuring attractive jacket artwork by noted interwar illustrator Helen McKie.
Detective Fiction
London, T.V. Boardman, 1946.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
The author's third novel, distinctly uncommon in the jacket, albeit supplied (but excellent) in this case.
Detective Fiction
New York & Toronto, Farrar & Rinehart, 1937.
First US edition, first printing. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket.
The fourth Pym novel and the title chosen by Farrar & Rinehart to launch Morland in America, with publisher's ballyhoo claiming that Edgar Wallace had "trained a young man to follow in his footsteps" and given him the germ of the Pym character, unsubstantiated but effective PR. The supplied jacket is in excellent condition.
Detective Fiction
London, Macdonald, 1951.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
"The Hungry Spider is in the best tradition of Man Running and The Golden Dart, and it re-introduces many old friends including Detective-Inspector "Ordinary" Smith, Billy Bull, that tough but ingenuous young gentleman known as the Boy, and of course Eve herself presiding." (jacket blurb)
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
or, the Modern Prometheus London, John Dicks, 1884.In Dicks' English Library of Standard Works, vol.III. 4to. Contemporary half straight-grain morocco lettered and ruled in gilt to spine.An uncommon serialised edition of Shelley's classic of sci-fi horror; the volume also contains Percy Bysshe's Zastrozzi, both illustrated by the well-known illustrator Frederick Gilbert.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
or, The Modern Prometheus
New York, Grosset & Dunlap, [c.1931].
Universal film tie-in edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket.
The first 'Photoplay' edition, issued to tie-in with the James Whale 1931 film. With the jacket artwork featuring Boris Karloff in one of his most famous roles.
Horror & Gothic
London, Edward Arnold, 1904.
First edition, first impression, issue with 'art museum' to p.55. Large 8vo. 4 plates, 16pp. advertisements dated 'November, 1904'. Original oatmeal cloth ruled in red & lettered in black, with yapp fore-edges. Presented in custom cloth drop-back box.
One of the most famous compilations of ghost stories of all time, "generally taken to mark the beginning of the modern era of supernatural fiction. In the opinion of many the foremost modern writer of supernatural fiction" (Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction).
James McBryde had originally intended to supply more illustrations for the work, but unfortunately died prematurely before he could complete them. The publishers did suggest to M.R. James that they could employ an alternative illustrator, but the author wanted the book to stand as testament to his friend's work, so they kept it to the four.
Modern Literature
London, The Highway Press, 1929.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
A vivid portrayal of life in Kikuyu land in the 1920s, noted as scarce early settler fiction.
Detective Fiction
London, Robert Hale, 1959.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 10/6.
Attractive hardback edition of this crime thriller.
Detective Fiction
London, Ward, Lock, 1930.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, publisher's number '264' to spine.
An author best known for The Wheel Spins (1936), which Alfred Hitchcock filmed as The Lady Vanishes (1938), and Some Must Watch (1933), filmed by Robert Siodmak as The Spiral Staircase (1946), this is her third novel and her final mainstream novel before she turned to crime fiction. Features supernatural elements.
Detective Fiction
London, Robert Hale, 1960.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 10/6.
One of the scarcer Rutledge titles, potentially one of two titles published only in the UK.
Victorian Literature
London, Smith, Elder, 1891.
First edition. 3 vol. 8vo. Uniformly bound in contemporary half red morocco on red cloth, spines gilt compartments within raised bands.
An attractive set of this historical adventure novel set during the Hundred Years' War in England, France, and Spain in 1366–67, against the background of the Black Prince's campaign to restore Peter of Castile to the throne. One of only 750 copies.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Selwyn & Blount, [1934].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/-.
The tenth of the eleven 'Not at Night' anthology series, featuring first book appearances of Robert E. Howard's 'Rogues in the House,' August Derleth's 'The Metronome,' and the Lovecraft collaboration 'The Horror in the Museum' attributed to Hazel Heald.
Detective Fiction
Robinson (B. Fletcher) and J. Malcolm Fraser. The Trial of the Dead.
The strange experience of Dr. Robert Harland
London, Ward, Lock, 1904.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth with inset illustration to upper cover.
Seven thrilling tales by Fletcher & Fraser, the former who had inspired in large part Conan Doyle with the idea for The Hound of the Baskervilles: "This story owes its inception to my friend, Mr. Fletcher Robinson, who has helped me both in the general plot and in the local details." (ACD, in The Strand)
Children's Books
London, Chatto & Windus, 1917.
13th edition. Small 8vo. Original pictorial cloth.
Helen Bannerman (1862–1946) wrote the story during a long railway journey in India as a gift for her two daughters, never intending it for publication; it was shown to E.V. Lucas, who agreed to publish it as the fourth title in his "Dumpy Books for Children" series.
Modern Literature
Translated from the Italian by William Weaver
London, Jonathan Cape, 1968.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
The first English language edition of this work by neorealist author Pasolini, building on the success of his 1955 work Ragazzi di Vita. The novel chronicles the life of Tommaso, a street youth equally comfortable running with Fascists, Communists or plain thieves in the slum suburbs of Rome, who undergoes a transformation after imprisonment.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Jonathan Cape, 1936.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
One of Morton's Beachcomber collections published under his own name rather than the pseudonym, gathering the comic whimsies, parodies, spoof news items and surreal sketches featuring his recurring characters.
War, Invasion & Spy
Le Carré (John, pseud. David Cornwell) The Naive and Sentimental Lover
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1971.
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
The author's only departure from genre fiction, in his own words it "isn't everyone's cup of tea, to say the least". It certainly divided fans of his work, but for some is seen favourably in comparison with authors such as Iris Murdoch and even James Joyce.
A play in three acts
London, Jonathan Cape, 1945.
First edition, first impression. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
A three-act play treating the last days of Lord Byron; the author's radio version of the same material was produced under the title Death of a Poet.
An investigation into Satanism in England and the International Black Magic Conspiracy
Poole et al, Blandford Press, 1987.
First edition, first impression. Signed by the author. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Appearing at the height of Britain's "Satanic Panic" of the late 1980s, this work belongs to a recognisable genre of sensationalist occult investigation publishing of that period, alongside works by authors such as Doreen Irvine and Kevin Logan.
American Literature
London, Constable, 1935.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
The first volume of what became known as the 'Williamsburg Trilogy', followed by Homage to Blenholt (1936) and Low Company (1937). Uncommon.
Detective Fiction
London, Ward Lock, 1937.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
The fourth novel by Robertson, a British crime writer whose series characters included Peter Grayleigh, Superintendent Bradley, Inspector John Martin, Vicky McBain, Edward North, and Alan Steel.
Detective Fiction
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1941.
Cheap edition, third impression. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, with price sticker '4/6' to inside front flap.
Fourteen short stories featuring Hercule Poirot and Hastings, Christie's first short story collection. Scarce when still with the attractive dust-jacket by Abbey.
Detective Fiction
London, Foulsham, 1951.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A popular US author, writing twenty-two crime novels between 1942 and 1962, today best known for her thirteen-novel Gridley Nelson police detective series, about an empathetic Princeton-educated, private-income-blessed, prematurely white-haired New York City cop.
Detective Fiction
London, Foulsham, 1960.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 10/6.
A popular US author, writing twenty-two crime novels between 1942 and 1962, today best known for her thirteen-novel Gridley Nelson police detective series, about an empathetic Princeton-educated, private-income-blessed, prematurely white-haired New York City cop.