Weird & Supernatural
A Tale of the Seventeenth Century
Edinburgh, for Archibald Constable, 1817.
First edition. 3 vols, 8vo. Rebound in later two-tone boards in antique style.
A handsome set of this dark, Gothic historical novel tracing Charles Mandeville's descent from trauma - spurred by family loss, wrongful accusations at school and university, revolutionary turmoil, to mental breakdown and disfigurement in the Stewart-era England of the mid-1600s. The author's last novel, praised by Shelley and referenced by Poe.
Modern Literature
London, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1959.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original burgundy boards. Dust-jacket, priced 13/6d.
A harrowing novel set amidst the ruins and social fragmentation of post-WWII Germany, it tracks a group of survivors as they navigate devastation, crime and moral collapse in a shattered Munich. Great jacket artwork by Biro.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Putnam, 1940.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Contemporary lending library cloth. Dust-jacket,
A translated family chronicle following Gustav Hackendahl, a Berlin coachman, coping with post-WWI change, economic hardship and societal transformation.
Detective Fiction
London, Macdonald, 1954.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6.
Part of the 'Mike Brett' secret agent series. Uncommon.
Detective Fiction
London, F.V. White, 1906.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red & green cloth stamped in gilt.
A moral mystery-thriller set in the pre–World War I era, involving a British diplomat Sir Philip Ramon and a society woman 'Tibbie'.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1937.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A light comic novel in Thomson's "Reggie" series, following society-bound Reggie as he relocates to the countryside.
Modern Literature
London, Laidlaw & Butchart, 1938.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original pale yellow cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A tale of friendship, small-town enterprise and female entrepreneurship: two young women team up to start an "unusual business" in rural surroundings.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Ward Lock, 1931.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
An adventurous, speculative maritime novel (sometimes a "future-war" story) featuring ex‑Machine‑Gun Corps captain Bill Parslow who embarks on a canal journey that turns mysterious and perilous.
American Literature
London, Heinemann, 1932.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A light-hearted comedy set in a Maine coastal resort, exploring small-town social pretensions, class condescension and family dynamics.
American Literature
London, Arthur Barker, 1933.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The tale of a woman from New York returning to rural Iowa; its Midwestern reflections struck a chord with Depression-era America. The book was adapted by its author into the 1933 MGM film The Stranger's Return, directed by King Vidor and starring Miriam Hopkins and Lionel Barrymore.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
[London], The London Book Co. for Collins, n.d..
'The Novel Library' edition (#150). Small 8vo. Original gilt decorated cloth. Dust-jacket.
A dystopian science-fiction novel first serialised in 1899 (When the Sleeper Wakes) and revised in 1910.
Modern Literature
London, Ward Lock, 1951.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A light fiction piece about dress-design and haute couture, revolving around fashion industry themes.
Detective Fiction
London, Quality Press/Philip Allan, 1936.
First edition, third impression. 8vo. Original brown cloth with imprint 'Quality Press' to spine. Dust-jacket with 'Philip Allan' imprint and ads, priced 2/6 with later price sticker to spine.
A third impression of Robins' gritty romantic drama involving love, obsession, moral compromise and the tawdry backdrop of London's sordid nightlife, following her earlier The Two-Way Brown.
Detective Fiction
Stone (Hampton, pseud. Aaron Stein) The Man Who Had too Much to Lose
London, Foulsham, 1955.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6.
Murder mystery featuring Assistant District Attorney Jeremiah Gibson, involving poisoning, attempted strangulation, inheritance intrigue, a femme fatale and corrupt family drama.
![[Creeps]Tales of Fear.](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/87052-300x300.jpg)
![Alternative view of [Creeps] Tales of Fear.](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/87052_2-300x400.jpg)
Weird & Supernatural
A Collection of Uneasy Tales
London, Philip Allan, 1935.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/6.
An anthology of uneasy stories curated under editor Charles Birkin (as per the Creeps series), gathering works from various authors and emphasising British pulp horror. The Creeps series served as a wonderfully British answer to the popular American horror anthologies, balancing shocking tales with gothic insinuations.
Modern Literature
Translated from the French by Stanley Chapman
London, Rapp & Carroll, 1967.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original olive boards. Dust-jacket, priced 25s.
A surreal, tragic-comic love story set in a world where objects and bodies decay in sync with emotion. The narrative is layered with dark fantasy, jazz culture parodies, philosophical puns and a sharp critique of consumerism.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Jonathan Cape, 1963.
First edition. Small 4to. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, priced 30s.
An attractive first edition of Bond-creator Fleming's adventure-charged visit to the world's most exciting, exotic and sinful cities. Includes snapshots of Hong Kong, Tokyo, Honolulu, Las Vegas, New York and Monte Carlo.
Modern Literature
London, Jonathan Cape, 1967.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, clipped to inside front flap but with prices present.
Count Boris Slattery's mid-life descent into obsession, nostalgia, alcoholism, sexual fixation on teenage girls and personal crisis in an English seaside town. Farrell's first Cape-published novel, prior to his acclaimed Empire Trilogy.
Modern Literature
London, The Women's Press, 1986.
First UK hardback edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Set in the early 20th-century American South, The Color Purple follows the life of Celie, an African American woman who faces severe abuse and oppression. Through a series of letters, Celie narrates her journey from a life of hardship to one of self-discovery, empowerment, and independence, highlighting themes of racism, sexism, and the transformative power of love and friendship.
African literature
London, Faber & Faber, 1958.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 18s.
The story follows Adebisi, an 18-year-old huntress who embarks on a quest to find her four brothers lost in the Jungle of the Pygmies, facing various supernatural challenges. Amos Tutuola (1920–1997) was a Nigerian writer known for incorporating Yoruba folklore into his works. His debut novel, The Palm-Wine Drinkard, gained international acclaim.
American Literature
The Second Glad Book
London, Sir Isaac Pitman, 1915.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original red cloth lettered and decorated in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 6/-.
Pollyanna's transition into adulthood and the continuation of her optimistic philosophy...
Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1938.
First edition, first impression, presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
A collection of short stories, inscribed by the author.
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.
Modern Literature
London, Adam & Charles Black, 1907.
First edition, first impression, second issue (without advertisements). 8vo. Original brown cloth stamped in black, gilt & white, with white feather to spine.
Set at Wrykyn, Wodehouse's recurring school environment, this early Wodehouse novel centres on young Sheen, whose inward nature and conflict with school-versus-town boys lead to tension dubbed "white-feather" cowardice. Uncommon, especially in such good condition.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1935.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A science-fantasy adventure, the first in Burroughs' Venus series, following Carson Napier's arrival on Venus (Amtor) and his rescue of Princess Duare, leading to swashbuckling escapades, strange creatures and aerial piracy.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Translated by Mrs. Cashel Hoey.
London, Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1898.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original pictorial green cloth over bevelled boards.
Verne's adventurous sequel to Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, recounting the schooner Halbrane's voyage from the Kerguelen Islands in search of the missing Pym and his captain brother, Len Guy.
Detective Fiction
London, Alvin Redman, 1950.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket.
A mid-century thriller/mystery centred on the murder of fitness guru Merlin Broadstone, drawing in a cast of eccentric figures from the burgeoning post-war health and culture scene.
Science & Technology
Part I (seemingly all published of this edition).
London, John Walea, 1842.
Second edition. 8vo. Presumed original cloth rebacked in later cloth to style, with morocco spine label.
The first part of Dalton's classic work on the atomic theory of matter. 'Dalton reconstructed Newton's speculations on the structure of matter, and, applying them in a new form to chemistry, gave Lavoisier's reformation of that science a deeper significance' (PMM). The first edition of the first part was published in 1808; this seemingly rare second edition was according to the preface published at the request of several of the author's friends.
Horror & Gothic
New York, Grosset & Dunlap, n.d. [c.1927].
Stage play tie-in edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, with publisher's catalogue printed on reverse.
Issued to coincide with the hugely successful stage adaptation of Stoker's classic of horror originally published 30 years earlier, which took to the Broadway stage in 1927, this is one of the most visually arresting editions of Dracula. The play starred Bela Lugosi in his first major English-speaking role, with Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing, roles the actors reprised for the famous 1931 film version.
![Tolkien (J.R.R.) [The Lord of the Rings]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/87033-300x300.jpg)
![Alternative view of Tolkien (J.R.R.) [The Lord of the Rings]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/87033_2-300x400.jpg)
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Comprising: The Fellowship of the Ring, third impression; The Two Towers, second impression; The Return of the King, second impression.
London, George Allen & Unwin, 1955.
3 vol., first editions. Large 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jackets.
Tolkien's epic following the Fellowship as they seek to destroy the One Ring to defeat Sauron and save Middle-earth. Thematically, it deepens the moral and mythic foundations laid in The Hobbit, embedding linguistic invention, heroic prophecy and even environmental concerns as central features of high fantasy's modern canon.