London, for T. Beckett and P.A. De Hondt, 1768.
2 vols. First editions. 8vo. Half-titles, list of subscribers, engraved coat-of-arms on D3v of vol.II. Contemporary half calf, simple gilt roll borders to covers, spines gilt ruled compartments within raised bands.
An attractive set of Sterne's final novel, in contemporary full calf binding. Written in part as an answer to Tobias Smollett's decidedly unsentimental Travels Through France and Italy.
Detective Fiction
London, Heritage, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth ruled and lettered in red to spine. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Attractive jacket artwork complements this pseudonymous title, which apparently "hides the identity of a retired naval commander, a noted authority on ancient piracy[...]" (jacket blurb)
Modern Literature
London, T.V. Boardman, [1959]. First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket. The world hovers on the brink of a nuclear war - and the whole future of mankind rests in the hands of a young bomber pilot... Famously the inspiration for Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Methuen, 1938.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
First UK edition of the fourth of Burroughs' novels to be set in the interior world of Pellucidar.
American Literature
London, John Calder, 1964.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 42s.
A very good example of the first UK edition of Burroughs' counter-culture classic.
Detective Fiction
London, Hamish Hamilton, 1962.
First UK edition. Inscribed presentation copy from Chandler's literary agent and lover, Helga Greene, to one of the contributors. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 21s.
Tough-minded and typically idiosyncratic, here is Chandler on Chandler, the mystery novel, writing, Hollywood, TV, publishing, cats and famous crimes. Attractive presentation copy from his agent and lover.
Detective Fiction
London, Collins Crime Club, 1952.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A decent first UK edition of this famous village 'whodunit', playfully placing Poirot in the scene rather than Miss Marple.
Detective Fiction
London, Frederick Muller, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in red to the spine. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
Inspector Maddock of Scotland Yard is first introduced to fans of crime fiction in this now uncommon first edition.
Children's Books
"The Other 100 Years War"
Kington, Herts, Roundtower Design, 2004.
First edition. Oblong 4to. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket.
A well-researched and enjoyable history of toy soldiers. Cowan was a well-respected toy soldier & knight maker himself, trading under various names, including Kingcast.
Modern Literature
London, Alston Rivers, 1928.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
A vividly depicted account of peasant and farm life on the Isle of Man.
London, Travel Book Club, 1939.
Travel Book Club edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Rather lovely jacket artwork on this thrilling account of exploration of one of Russia's least forgiving regions.
Detective Fiction
London, Andrew Melrose, n.d..
First edition, third impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, '4/-' price sticker to spine.
One of the best 'Department "Z"' titles by this prolific author.
Detective Fiction
Edinburgh, Grant & Murray, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Striking jacket artwork on this Jacobite era murder mystery. Uncommon.
American Literature
London, Lovat Dickson, 1934.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
A New York novel "throwing against a typically frivolous party background some of the most serious emotional problems which confront the modern sophisticate" (jacket blurb).
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Jonathan Cape, 1963.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original red boards with black 'rubber stamp' to upper cover. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A good first edition of the second 'Harry Palmer' spy novel (although the character is never named in the books), that began with The IPCRESS File (1962).
Antiquarian
London, Richard Bentley, 1838.
3 vols. First edition in book form, mixed issue (vol.I & II with shortened title with 'Charles Dickens', vol.III with full title and 'Boz' as author, and with the 'fireside' plate). 8vo. 19th century half morocco, spines gilt, gilt edges.
An attractive first edition set of Dickens' classic tale of hardship and hope.
Detective Fiction
London, Faber & Faber, 1956.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards lettered in yellow. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A Professor Daly title by prolific Irish author Eilís Dillon.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Duckworth, 1958.
First edition. 8vo. Original red buckram. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
An indepth examination of four cases of the paranormal, by two Society for Psychical Research stalwarts.
Modern Literature
London, Lawrence & Wishart, 1957.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original red boards lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 10s 6d.
The second novel by Doherty, following on from the success of the author's first book, A Miner's Son. A man trapped in a coal-mine reflects deeply on his own life.
or the Three Religions of China
London, Partridge, 1886.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth highlighted and lettered in gilt.
"Giving an account of the mythology, idolatry, and demonolatry of the Chinese". Attractive pictorial cloth binding.
Detective Fiction
London, Collins Crime Club, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth.
Hubin listed crime thriller.
American Literature
London, Bodley Head, 1946.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
The first UK edition of Fast's examination of the lives of former slaves during the Reconstruction era in the States.
American Literature
London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1957.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, priced 12/6.
Prison escape excitement from the author of The Body Snatchers.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Jonathan Cape, 1926.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt to spine, with publisher's monogram blind-stamped to lower cover.
"The erotic awakening of a young woman told in terms of empathy with the vegetative world." (Bleiler)
Detective Fiction
London, Jonathan Cape, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
"The story of a strange chase across the South American continent." (jacket blurb)
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Grayson & Grayson, 1951.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
Themed collection of 12 science fiction stories dealing with space travel taken from the early modern genre pulp magazines. Contributors include Isaac Asimov, A.E. Van Vogt, Hal Clement, Lewis Padgett (husband-wife team pen name of Henry Kuttner & C.L. Moore), L. Ron Hubbard, Manly Wade Wellman and Murray Leinster.
Food & Drink
London, Faber & Faber, 1935.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original pictorial boards. Dust-jacket, priced 2s6d.
Heath was cookery correspondent of The Queen from 1938-64 and wrote over seventy books between 1932 and 1968. His first book was Good Food (1932).
Biography
Master Builder
London, Macmillan, 1971.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced £12.60.
Important biography of one of the first builders to have a 'modern' system of employing all the trades under his own management, notably in London.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Eveleigh Nash, 1913.
First edition. 8vo. Advertisements. Original blind-tooled red cloth.
The first collected edition of Hope Hodgson's occult detective Carnacki's adventures.
Detective Fiction
New York, Simon & Schuster, 1947.
First edition, 'Inner Sanctum Suspense Special'. 8vo. Original brick cloth. Dust-jacket.
A 1947 thriller about a mother who shields her daughter from a blackmailer.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1946.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
"This novel has a strong, ingenious plot, sparkling characterisation and, above all, that irresistible sense of humour which has now made Sydney Horler famous as a comedian in print." (jacket blurb)
Horror & Gothic
London, Edward Arnold, 1919.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original decorative cloth with spider's web design.
A gem from the golden age of Gothic horror, these spine-tingling tales by Montague Rhodes James would satisfy even the most demanding need for ghoulishly "Excellent Stories" (Bleiler).
Horror & Gothic
London, Edward Arnold, 1911.
First edition. 8vo. Original grey pictorial cloth.
First edition of the follow-up volume to Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, collecting seven more of Montague Rhodes James's classic horror stories, including 'A School Story,' 'The Rose Garden,' 'Casting the Runes,' and 'Martin's Close.'
Detective Fiction
From the Play by Maurice Leblanc and Francis De Croisset
London, Mills & Boon, 1909.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth with inset vignette portrait, lettered in red to upper cover, gilt lettering to spine.
The book to tie-in with the four-act play first performed on October 28, 1908, at the Athenée in Paris. In 1909 it had successful runs in New York and London, with the London production running for 199 shows. The gentleman-thief was first introduced in serial form in 1905.
Children's Books
London, John Hamilton, [1935].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in black to spine. Dust-jacket.
A hard book to find in the original dust-jacket, featuring attractive aeronautical artwork by Stanley Orton Bradshaw.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1960.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original red pictorial boards. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
One of Biggles creator Johns' successful dalliances with science fiction.
Modern Literature
London, Secker & Warburg, 1945.
First edition thus. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
The first edition published by Secker & Warburg - the first UK edition was published by Gollancz in 1937.
Detective Fiction
London, Boardman, 1961.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original orange boards. Dust-jacket, priced 12s6d.
An attractive first UK edition of this Peter Chambers title by Kane, no. 362 in the American Bloodhound Mystery series.
Modern Literature
London, Nisbet, 1928.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
"...the story of a master at a big public school, the current of whose life is completely changed by contact with a book, a woman, and a philosopher" (jacket blurb). The author's last novel.
Detective Fiction
London, Michael Joseph, 1964. First edition. 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced by 16s. A very good copy of this murder mystery first edition.
London, Constable, 1934.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Uncommon title in jacket, from the pen of the creator of Inspector Artifex of Scotland Yard.
Detective Fiction
London, Houghton, 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original yellow cloth lettered & blocked in black. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A very attractive example of this Hubin-listed title.