Sci-Fi & Fantasy
The Interpretation
[London], J. Burns, [1889].
Sole issue. 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers.
An attractive and scarce little work relating to Rider Haggard's masterpiece of fantastical fiction.
Non-Fiction
London, Walter Scott, 1899.
First edition. 8vo. Original red gilt-pictorial cloth.
A bright attractive copy of this mournful reflection on British society at the turn of the century, by a then well-known socialist, novelist and campaigner.
Weird & Supernatural
London, George Redway, [1888].
First edition, second issue. 8vo. Original blue pictorial cloth.
A repackaging of volume 3 of the scarce triple-decker Dreamland and Ghostland (1888) which includes five of the seven Conan Doyle short stories found in that collection (the first appearances by Conan Doyle in book form, preceding A Study in Scarlet). The sales were of the initial collection were poor and the publisher repackaged the sheets in separate volumes with new titles and bindings.
Victorian Literature
London, Longmans, Green, 1887.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers, bound in later boards-backed cloth.
Lang & Pollock's presumably affectionate parody of Rider Haggard's She. Lang (of the Fairy Tale multi-coloured books fame) and Haggard worked together on subsequent projects.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Hutchinson, [1935].
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
A hard to find anthology in the original jacket; the collection includes contributions by Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood, Violet Hunt, Oliver Onions and others.
African literature
London, Dorothy Crisp, [c.1946].
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s 6d.
First published in South Africa in 1946, Peter Abrahams' classic novel Mine Boy exposed South Africa's fledgling racial apartheid system and townships to the world - and its wisdom, vividness and political power endures to this day.
African literature
London, Dorothy Crisp, [1943].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
The first edition of this early work by one of the most influential and prominent South African writers, a "powerful novel of a Zulu boy, and of the struggle between an English woman and her husband of Boer descent when this war began." (jacket)
African literature
London, Heinemann, 1958.
First edition, first impression; 8vo. Original brick-red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
The first edition of Nigerian author Achebe's first novel, one of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'. Things Fall Apart is the first part of the author's 'African Trilogy', a compelling story of one man's battle to protect his community against the forces of change, seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first to receive global critical acclaim. It is a literary staple of schools throughout Africa and is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. Scarce.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Chatto & Windus, 1893 [1900]. First edition, later issue. 8vo. Publisher's catalogue at end dated January 1900. Original green cloth decorated and lettered in gilt. A collection of sixteen unconventional tales from the pen of the author of The Woman Who Did, including the title tale set in Jamaica, and 'The Abbé's Repentance'.
Modern Literature
and other stories
[London], Hurst & Blackett, [1927].
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A very good first edition of these light-hearted, often comical tales. Scarce in jacket.
London, Jarrolds, 1957.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, priced 18s.
A motorcycle tour through Switzerland and Italy to the continent of Africa.
Fifty years' experiences of a foreigner in the Chinese government service
London, Constable, 1931.
First edition. Inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket with mounted colour illustration, priced 21/-.
Inscribed on the half-title with the authors compliments, with the dedicatee's name and official Peking stamps beneath.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Dobson, 1963.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original dark brown boards. Dust-jacket.
Originally published in magazines between 1956 and 1958, with the exception of the closing poem, 'Rejection Slips', which was original to the collection.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Jonathan Cape, 1981.
First edition. 8vo. Original pale brown boards. Dust-jacket, priced £6.50.
An attractive first edition of this ecological disaster/post-apocalyptic novel from Ballard.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Jonathan Cape, 1970.
First UK edition (following the cancelled the US edition of the same year). 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced £1.05.
Ballard's experimental novel, comprising a series of interlinked stories or chapters. The book was going to be published first in the USA, but publishers Doubleday & Company had the print-run destroyed due to fear of legal action from some of the celebrities depicted therein.
Children's Books
London, Grant Richards, 1903.
Early edition. Small 4to. Original pictorial brown cloth.
Helen Bannerman (1862-1946) wrote this story during a long railway journey in India, and sent it to her two small daughters whom she had just left to be educated in her native Scotland. It was eventually published as the fourth title in the "Dumpy Books" series, in 1899, and its success apparently inspired the format of Beatrix Potter's "Peter Rabbit" books. It is today quite a controversial juvenile, but since the original publication it has gone through countless printings and translations as well as sequels, imitations, and parodies.
Weird & Supernatural
Penyffordd, Chester, Ash-Tree Press, 1996.
One of 400 copies. 8vo. Original dark red cloth. Dust-jacket.
A wonderful edition of Baring-Gould's 1904 title, here featuring an introduction by Richard Dalby.
Children's Books
or, The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1928.
First play edition. 8vo. Original blue boards with printed title label to spine and upper cover. Dust-jacket,
An uncommon edition in the jacket, which has done a great job of preserving the book beneath. Barrie's classic tale for children, re-rendered for the stage.
Non-Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, 1943.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 5s.
A very good first edition of this post-war prediction that seeks to outline the difficulties Europe in particular faces once the Second World War is over.
Modern Literature
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1931.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original grey cloth. Dust-jacket.
The first UK edition of this work by prolific Austrian author Baum, originally published in German the year before.
Detective Fiction
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1932.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original pale blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
The first UK edition of this work by prolific Austrian author Baum.
Detective Fiction
London, Collins, 1953.
First edition. 8vo. Original mauve boards. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
The author's first book; a classic murder mystery which will keep you guessing until the final pages.
African literature
A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature. No.4
Ibadan, Nigeria, General Publications Section, Ministry of Education, October 1958.
Small folio. Original pictorial wrappers.
An early issue of this seminal West African literary journal, contributors include Paul Vesey, Gerald Moore, Ezekiel Mpahlele, Geormbeeyi Adali-Mortti and Randolph Rawlins.
"The steady development of Black Orpheus over the last seven years amounts to a remarkable achievement. It has succeeded in breaking the vicious circle that seems to inhibit the development of a proper reading public by its continued existence, by its very availability; more than that, it has also gone on to establish itself as one of the most important formative influences in modern African literature.…It can be said, without much exaggeration, that the founding of Black Orpheus, if it did not directly inspire new writing in English-speaking Africa, at least coincided with the first promptings of a new, modern, literary expression and re-inforced it by keeping before the potential writer the example of the achievements of the French-speaking and Negro American writers." (Abiola Irele, editor, Journal of Modern African Studies). The magazine ceased publication in 1975.
African literature
Beier (Ulli), Ezekiel Mphahlele and Wole Soyinka, editors. Black Orpheus.
A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature. No.10
Ibadan, Nigeria, General Publications Section, Ministry of Education, [1962].
Small folio. US distributor's label to copyright page. Original pictorial wrappers.
An attractive issue of this seminal West African literary journal. Includes a section on 'New Nigerian Poetry'.
"The steady development of Black Orpheus over the last seven years amounts to a remarkable achievement. It has succeeded in breaking the vicious circle that seems to inhibit the development of a proper reading public by its continued existence, by its very availability; more than that, it has also gone on to establish itself as one of the most important formative influences in modern African literature.…It can be said, without much exaggeration, that the founding of Black Orpheus, if it did not directly inspire new writing in English-speaking Africa, at least coincided with the first promptings of a new, modern, literary expression and re-inforced it by keeping before the potential writer the example of the achievements of the French-speaking and Negro American writers." (Abiola Irele, editor, Journal of Modern African Studies). The magazine ceased publication in 1975.
African literature
Beier (Ulli), Ezekiel Mphahlele and Wole Soyinka, editors. Black Orpheus.
A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature. No.9
Ibadan, Nigeria, General Publications Section, Ministry of Education, June 1961.
Small folio. Original pictorial wrappers.
An early issue of this seminal West African literary journal. Includes Ezekiel Mphahlele writing on Langston Hughes.
"The steady development of Black Orpheus over the last seven years amounts to a remarkable achievement. It has succeeded in breaking the vicious circle that seems to inhibit the development of a proper reading public by its continued existence, by its very availability; more than that, it has also gone on to establish itself as one of the most important formative influences in modern African literature.…It can be said, without much exaggeration, that the founding of Black Orpheus, if it did not directly inspire new writing in English-speaking Africa, at least coincided with the first promptings of a new, modern, literary expression and re-inforced it by keeping before the potential writer the example of the achievements of the French-speaking and Negro American writers." (Abiola Irele, editor, Journal of Modern African Studies). The magazine ceased publication in 1975.
African literature
Beier (Ulli), Ezekiel Mphahlele and Wole Soyinka, editors. Black Orpheus.
A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature. No.7
Ibadan, Nigeria, General Publications Section, Ministry of Education, June 1960.
Small folio. Original pictorial wrappers.
An early issue of this seminal West African literary journal, contributors include Léon Damas, Gerald Moore and Cyprian Ekwensi.
"The steady development of Black Orpheus over the last seven years amounts to a remarkable achievement. It has succeeded in breaking the vicious circle that seems to inhibit the development of a proper reading public by its continued existence, by its very availability; more than that, it has also gone on to establish itself as one of the most important formative influences in modern African literature.…It can be said, without much exaggeration, that the founding of Black Orpheus, if it did not directly inspire new writing in English-speaking Africa, at least coincided with the first promptings of a new, modern, literary expression and re-inforced it by keeping before the potential writer the example of the achievements of the French-speaking and Negro American writers." (Abiola Irele, editor, Journal of Modern African Studies). The magazine ceased publication in 1975.
African literature
Beier (Ulli), Ezekiel Mphahlele and Wole Soyinka, editors. Black Orpheus.
A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature. No.11
Ibadan, Nigeria, General Publications Section, Ministry of Education, [1962].
Small folio. US distributor's label to copyright page. Original pictorial wrappers.
An attractive issue of this seminal West African literary journal.
"The steady development of Black Orpheus over the last seven years amounts to a remarkable achievement. It has succeeded in breaking the vicious circle that seems to inhibit the development of a proper reading public by its continued existence, by its very availability; more than that, it has also gone on to establish itself as one of the most important formative influences in modern African literature.…It can be said, without much exaggeration, that the founding of Black Orpheus, if it did not directly inspire new writing in English-speaking Africa, at least coincided with the first promptings of a new, modern, literary expression and re-inforced it by keeping before the potential writer the example of the achievements of the French-speaking and Negro American writers." (Abiola Irele, editor, Journal of Modern African Studies). The magazine ceased publication in 1975.
Detective Fiction
Bellairs (George, pseud. Harold Blundell) Close All Roads to Sospel
London, John Gifford, 1976.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, priced £2.50.
A British travel group is stranded in France when the tour conductor is shot, and the bus driver is accused of murder. Luckily, Inspector Littlejohn is holidaying nearby and is on hand, both to interpret the annoyed tourists and to solve a baffling double crime.
Detective Fiction
Bellairs (George, pseud. Harold Blundell) Death of a Busybody
London, Thrilling Book Club, 1942.
First book club edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth.
The second Littlejohn title, published the same year as the first edition by John Gifford. Scarce.
Detective Fiction
Bellairs (George, pseud. Harold Blundell) Death on the Last Train
London, John Gifford, 1948.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 6/-.
Decent first edition of this early Inspector Thomas Littlejohn novel.
London, John Gifford, [1949].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 6/-.
An Inspector Littlejohn story.