Illustrated Books
London, The Decoy Press, 1919.
Vol.II only (of 2 published, from a projected series of 12). 8vo. Title printed in red & black. Original quarter linen with paper boards, gilt spine titling.
Change was a brief socialist, illustrated periodical released in the year following the Great War, embodying post-war aspiration. Though twelve issues were intended, only two volumes saw publication. These editions showcased woodcuts and illustrations from artists like Lovat Fraser, Robert Gibbings and Eric Gill among others, both standalone and accompanying the mix of prose, verse, and a detective story, 'The Private Papers of the Oubliette Club.'
Modern Literature
A Novel
London, Sampson Low, [1934].
First edition, "File Copy". 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
The last novel by this insanely prolific Cornish writer, author of the best-selling 'improving story' Her Benny (1879). Wonderful jacket artwork.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Selwyn & Blount, [1920].
First edition, [one of 500 copies]. 8vo. Original boards with printed paper spine label. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
A rather remarkable copy of Hope Hodgson's first published verse collection, scarce in such condition and the original dust-jacket: "...most of what [Hodgson] wrote in this kind is here published for the first time. And in his poems, as in his prose, it is the mystery, the strength, the cruelty, the grimness and sadness of the sea the most potently appeal to him... For him the voices of the sea are the sighing or calling of its multitudinous dead, and there are lines in which he hints that one day he, too, will be called down to them..." A. St John Adcock's introduction. The attraction of Davy Jones' locker was not the author's demise ultimately however, instead he died in action during the First World War.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Stanley Paul, 1909.
First edition. 8vo. Original (variant) blue cloth.
A key work in Hope Hodgson's canon, here in a seemingly unknown variant binding (the normal is red cloth, with green also being recorded). The tale recounts a ship crew's strange & terrifying experience as their reality comes into contact with an alternative, darker mirror world. Bleiler was a huge fan of Hope Hodgson, calling his novels "visionary accounts that have no real parallels in English literature". Of this particular title he noted:
"One of the great sea novels. highly original in detail and well done. Although it is overshadowed as visionary horror by the more spectacular The House on the Borderland and The Night Land, as a work of art, it is finer." (The Guide to Supernatural Fiction).
A revised version of the ending was anthologised, under the title "The Silent Ship".
Weird & Supernatural
London, Stanley Paul, 1909.
First edition. 8vo. Advertisements. Original green cloth.
A superb first edition of this key work in Hope Hodgson's canon, here in the seemingly less common green cloth, as opposed to red (no priority being definitively established). The tale recounts a ship crew's strange & terrifying experience as their reality comes into contact with an alternative, darker mirror world. Bleiler was a huge fan of Hope Hodgson, calling his novels "visionary accounts that have no real parallels in English literature". Of this particular title he noted:
"One of the great sea novels. highly original in detail and well done. Although it is overshadowed as visionary horror by the more spectacular The House on the Borderland and The Night Land, as a work of art, it is finer." (The Guide to Supernatural Fiction).
A revised version of the ending was anthologised, under the title "The Silent Ship".
Weird & Supernatural
London, Eveleigh Nash, 1916.
First edition. 8vo. Advertisements. Original cloth.
Two poems and eight short stories, mostly of darkly supernatural nautical themes inspired by the author's own time at sea. "Long neglected, unappreciated, one of most important formative influences in modern tale of supernatural horror." (Bleiler). Very rare.
Detective Fiction
Holt (Gavin, pseud. Percival Charles Rodda) Drums Beat at Night
London, Hodder & Sttoughton, 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 3/6.
Drums beat at night...and Professor Bastion hears the echo on Hampstead Heath (jacket)
Detective Fiction
Holt (Gavin, pseud. Percival Charles Rodda) Murder at Marble Arch
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
An very good first edition of one of Holt's best books.
Modern Literature
London, Collins, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/-.
Considered the author's greatest novel, published posthumously. Centred around a County Council, the novel illustrates how public decisions can mold the individual, at the same time offering a panoramic and unforgettable view of Yorkshire life. Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
Horror & Gothic
London, Robert Hale, 1956.
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 12/6.
A semi-gothic thriller set largely in Victorian London, by a prolific writer and biographer. The book, like many of Hooke's, was subsequently made into a film, The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958).
Horror & Gothic
London, Quality Press, 1946.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 10/6.
An eye-catching first edition recounting the adventures of a ghost hunter. Scarce.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
Uncommon Horler title, especially in the jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Hubin-listed detective fiction title, scarce in the original dust-jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1929.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
Mid-period Horler, distinctly uncommon in such condition.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1931
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket correctly priced at 7/6 on spine.
A 'rollicking yarn' from this very prolific author concerning one Oswald Twining who writes novelettes of the purple passion variety under the name of 'Hugo Blazer' and Geraldine Rhombard, the daughter of a Dean and for whom Oswald has fallen very heavily.
Rare in jacket no copies online at time of listing.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
An excellent first edition of this Horler title, rare in such condition.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1935.
A collection of four criminous short stories listed in Hubin, the eponymous first of which concerns the battle between Sir Harker Bellamy, the famous secret service chief known as ‘The Mole’ and The Priest’ a daring and resourceful foreign spy and plotter.
Rare in such a well preserved jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Hutchinson, [c.1934].
First edition, "6th thousand". 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Three tales by this master of excitement, uncommon in the dust-jacket with cool photographic artwork.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
An attractive Hodder & Stoughton first edition, in classic Hastain jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Soughton, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
A macabre flautist graces the jacket of this uncommon Horler title.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6 and with publisher's label declaring it as newly published.
An excellent example of this spy thriller by Horler.
Detective Fiction
London, Philip Allan, 1936.
'Popular Edition'. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
An attractive edition of this tale by the creator of Raffles.
Detective Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, 1902.
First edition. 8vo. Title printed in red & black with device; publisher's catalogue at end dated March 1902. Original gilt pictorial blue cloth.
Attractive first edition from the creator of Raffles the gentleman thief, in which a woman is accused of her husband's murder - one of Hornung's works which is considered to provide a favourably modern portrayal of a female protagonist.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Harrap, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Striking jacket artwork on this tale of international intrigue, centring around the fictional Balkan country of Carpathia.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Chatto & Windus, 1939.
First edition, cut signature of author affixed to front free endpaper. 8vo. Title printed in red & black within ruled border. Original purple cloth, spine lettered in silver. Lacking dust-jacket.
The first edition of the Bristol-born Household's most famous work, a classic of thriller fiction, with (an admittedly unnamed) Hitler firmly in the author's sights.
Modern Literature
Ten lectures on social subjects
London, Swarthmore Press, 1919.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth with white spine label. Dust-jacket, priced 6/-.
An excellent first edition of this series of essays by the Victorian author, playwright and illustrator Laurence Housman, author of A Farm in Fairyland (1894) and illustrator of his sister's novella The Were-Wolf (1896). Scarce in jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1938.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
The first UK edition of one of a series of popular novels based on the life and adventures of 'Calamity Jane' in the wild wild west. Uncommon in the dust-jacket, let alone in such condition.
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1929.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d, with the original Choice of the Book Society wraparound band.
The distinctive first UK edition of Hughes' High Wind in Jamaica, a genre redefining work set largely on the high seas - with pirates! Uncommon in the original wraparound.
Modern Literature
London, Methuen,, 1932.
Second edition. 8vo. 8pp. advertisements. Orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
A handsome early edition of this follow-up to The Sheik (1919). Hull is credited with setting off a major and hugely popular revival of the "desert romance" genre of romantic fiction, helped by the Rudolph Valentino film adaptations.
Modern Literature
London, Eveleigh Nash & Grayson, [1926].
Film tie-in edition. 8vo. 3pp. advertisements. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket.
A handsome early edition of the sequel to The Sheik (1919); the first edition was published in 1925, with this edition issued to coincide with the popular film version starring Rudolph Valentino. Hull is credited with setting off a major and hugely popular revival of the "desert romance" genre of romantic fiction.
Detective Fiction
Hull (Richard, pseud. Richard Henry Sampson) Left-Handed Death
London, Collins Crime Club, 1946.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.
An uncommon first edition in the jacket; a government official's investigations into an engineering company's failing business leads to murder...
Detective Fiction
Hull (Richard, pseud. Richard Henry Sampson) The Murderers of Monty
London, Faber & Faber, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A hoax "death by committee" goes fatally wrong, inevitably perhaps... A rare Faber publication, in rather nice period jacket, here price-clipped but priced accordingly.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Jarrold, 1896.
First edition. 8vo. Original gilt-stamped dark green cloth.
A tantalising tango with Sci-Fi elements by the insanely prolific author of Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886). A really nice copy, to boot.
Detective Fiction
...a startling and realistic story of Melbourne social life
London, The Hansom Cab Publishing Company, n.d. [c.1888].
First UK edition, early issue, stating 'two hundredth thousand'. 8vo. Advertisements. Original pictorial wrappers.
The famous Melbourne-based crime thriller by prolific author Fergus Hume, distinctly uncommon in this condition. A publishing phenomenon, sadly not something the author himself managed to cash in on as he had sold the publishing rights for a desultory amount to businessman Frederick Trischler, who went on to found the Hansom Cab Publishing Company in London.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Duckworth, 1939
First edition. Large 8vo. Publisher's white cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6 on front flap, overprinted with 4/6.
The first novel by the writer described by Ronald Bryden as "the most exasperatingly gifted writer in England". Hyams was a translator and author, active in various genres, fiction and non-fiction, from before World War Two. Although not widely known for his speculative work, he published several novels of Sci-Fi interest. The Wings of the Morning is a discussion novel in the style of the scientific romance set as a future war novel whose description does not very accurately anticipate the reality to come. This was his first novel written when he was 28 years old. Rare. No copies of any kind for sale at time of listing.
Detective Fiction
Iles (Frances, pseud. Anthony Berkeley Cox) Malice Aforethought.
The story of a commonplace crime
London, Mundanus / Gollancz, 1931.
First edition (preceding the hardback). 8vo. Original printed wrappers. Housed in morocco-backed cloth slip-case and chemise.
An uncommon work by Anthony Berkeley Cox, aka Anthony Berkeley. The work is significant in the genre of crime fiction as one of the earliest and finest examples of the inverted detective story, a technique which would go on to inspire numerous other authors, as well as film-makers - notably Hitchcock and his 1941 film Suspicion (actually based on another, similar Iles title).