Detective Fiction
Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1948
First Penguin edition. 8vo. Original green & white wrappers.
Detective Fiction
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1926
First edition. 8vo. 2pp. advertisements. Original dark red cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 3/6.
A great first edition, with enticing jacket artwork. The authors had previously collaborated on the The Forbidden Hour.
Detective Fiction
Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes.
London, John Murray, 1917
First edition. 8vo. 6pp. advertisements. Original cloth.
A collection of previously published Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, including the titular short story, 'His Last Bow: The War Service of Sherlock Holmes'.
Detective Fiction
London, John Crowther, 1946
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth stamped in silver. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6.
A superior copy of this uncommon first edition by the enigmatic Mary Durham, present in the correct first issue dust-jacket. The story features the author's serial character Chief Inspector York.
Detective Fiction
More Madame Storey Mysteries.
London, Collins Crime Club, 1933
First edition, second impression (i.e. first Cheap Edition, published the same month as the first). 8vo. 4pp. advertisements. Original orange cloth lettered in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 3'6 (1st Cheap Edition).
A very good copy of this compilation of short stories by the prolific author Hulbert Footner, featuring his well-known protagonist Madame Rosika Storey. Scarce in the dust-jacket. Preceding the US edition by four years.
War, Invasion & Spy
Written by himself. Foreword by Field-Marshal Earl Haig.
London, John Murray, 1924
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 15/-.
A scarce work in the original dust-jacket; an impressive autobiographical study by a man of equally impressive military standing, with a career spanning almost 35 years and seeing action in India, Africa and Sudan, as well as service in New Zealand and Cyprus. The foreword is by Field-Marshal Douglas Haig, a divisive figure in military history, garnering the unfavourable, and possibly unfair, moniker 'The Butcher of the Somme' for his strategic role in WW1.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Sampson Low, Marston, [1937].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
The only work of sci-fi from an author normally associated with more sedentary works on transport; this Lost Race tale set in the Yukon Territory, 'within a caldera heated by volcanic action, a technologically advanced but priest-ridden civilization of "white Indians", originally from ancient Egypt, uses its helicopter-like airships and strange Weapons to attempt to protect its gold from the outer world.' (The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction).
War, Invasion & Spy
London, John Hamilton, [1938].
First edition. 2pp. advertisements for the 'Ace Series'. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, dated 3s.6d.
'In a tiny plane, far above the Sahara, Michael Wright directs the operations of Doctor Oberlin's mighty fleet of bombers as it flies northward to encompass the destruction of Europe.' (jacket blurb)
War, Invasion & Spy
London, John Hamilton, [1936].
First edition. Ace Series. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3s.6d.
A solid first edition of a classic aviation tale by prolific writer George E. Rochester, drawing on his own experience in the Royal Flying Corps; bandit menace in the air above Tibet, bad Buddhists, and more...
Weird & Supernatural
London, Sampson Low, Marston, [1932].
First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. 32pp. publisher's catalogue listing this title at 7/6. Original black cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, with price-sticker 3/6 indicating second issue.
An appealing copy of this scarce work to find in the jacket, even with the second issue price-sticker as here; a borderline sci-fi title, with a nautical flavour.
Inscribed on the title-page, 'A.T. Wall. With the Author's kind regards & compliments. E.F. Spanner.'
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Collins Crime Club, 1931
First edition. 8vo. 2pp. advertisements. Original dark orange cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket spine priced 3/6, with further 1/- sticker.
'The name "Charles Pearce"...to whisper it after dark is to start a horde of wild imagings...all that makes the flesh creep and the hair stand on end...a repulsive creature to look upon; a colossal braggart; a gifted musician; a murderer - a dwarf in stature and a Samson in strength; the perfect burglar; and a man with an irresistible attraction for women...' (publisher's blurb).
A very good first edition in early issue jacket with the sinister artwork by V. Asta bright and clean to upper panel.