Sci-Fi & Fantasy
A Tale of Two Spheres
London, Authors' Co-operative Publishing, 1892.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth.
Classic Victorian sci-fi, the story of a young man transported to another planet, where he meets and fall in love with a beautiful woman only to have their relationship threatened by an evil sorcerer. The spheres, Earth is a world of war and poverty, while the other Aethasia is a world of peace and prosperity.
London, Heinemann, 1963.
First edition. 8vo. Original burgundy boards. Dust-jacket, priced 21s.
The important consideration on the history and development of Ghana, by the Ghanaian politician, political theorist and revolutionary Kwame Nkrumah, who served as the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957.
Weird & Supernatural
or, Free-Trade in Souls. A Romance of the "Golden" Age
London, H.J. Gibbs, 1850.
First edition. 8vo. Later plain cloth.
Rare. 'North's The City of the Jugglers or, Free Trade in Souls, a satire and fantasia on the stock market frenzies of Britain in the late 1840s with a side-trip to the 1848 Revolution in Hungary, is one of the most original novels of the mid-Victorian period, but it is also the most elusive book by one of the nineteenth-century's most elusive authors. Frederick Bellew's frontispiece engraving is apparently the only known portrait of the book's author' (University of South Carolina's introduction to their edition).
African literature
London, Hutchinson, 1961.
First edition. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 16s.
The first novel by Nigerian author Onoura Nzekwu, later republished by Heinemann as part of the important African Writers Series. The novel has been compared to Achebe's No Longer at Ease.
Modern Literature
First edition.
London. Neville Spearman, 1957
A well regarded collection of short stories mainly set in the American South and most of them among poor people. The short story that gives the book refers to statues popular in the Jim Crow-era Southern United States, depicting grotesque minstrel-like characters.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Longmans, 1960.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original orange boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 16/-.
One of only two novels written by this all-too-often over-looked American author, more prolific as an author of short stories. Crammed full of overwhelming religious themes and dark imagery, the work is one of the best examples of the "Southern Gothic" subgenre.
Weird & Supernatural
or, Animal Hauntings and the Hereafter
London, Rider, 1913.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth.
Irish author and paranormal investigator O'Donnell ponders on the zoomorphic role played by animal spirits and similar in the afterlife.
![Elliott O'Donnell, The Devil in the Pulpit, first edition, [1932]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/84575-300x300.jpg)
Horror & Gothic
London, Denis Archer, [1932].
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth gilt. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Sinisterly appealing jacket artwork graces this scarce first edition in jacket; classic horror stuff, with a clergyman possessed by the devil. Genuinely rare.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Eveleigh Nash, 1911.
First edition. 8vo. Original purple cloth.
Irish author and paranormal investigator O'Donnell delves into various types of dreams and attempts to uncover their hidden meanings. He discusses the symbolism and oneirology of dream elements, exploring how dreams can offer insights into the subconscious mind, personal experiences, and even premonitions.
Modern Literature
London, Jonathan Cape, 1929.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
An attractive first edition of this the second work by Irish writer and prominent Republican activist O'Donnell to be set in Donegal, recounting the misfortunes of a Cork family who all died of starvation in 1927.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
O’Duffy (Eimar) The Spacious Adventures of the Man in the Street.
London, Macmillan, 1928
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly price of 7/6 on front flap.
Satirical science fantasy of a visit to another planet and the second volume of Eimar O'Duffy's Cuanduine (Spectrum of Fantasy p168)
Uncommon in a jacket. No copies for sale online currently.
War, Invasion & Spy
House Agent
London, Mills & Boon, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
From a publishing POV at the minimum, Evans is an interesting author, one of a select few that canny publishers Mills & Boon convinced to adopt at least one pen-name to increase their "representability" via libraries such as Boots and W.H. Smith, who would normally only represent no more than two books by any author a year. Evans wrote over 120 novels for Mills & Boon, at a fairly high standard, under her own name and her "nom de guerres".
Detective Fiction
London, Marriott, 1930
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth, Dust-jacket correctly priced at 7/6 on front flap.
Rare in dust-jacket.
Detective Fiction
First edition. London, Heinemann, 1928 Fifteen episodes of crimes studied by Rowland Hern and his Watson-like unnamed narrator with strong supernatural content.
Detective Fiction
A Series of Stories
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
A collection of short stories by the 'Prince of Storytellers', in an attractive Bip Pares dust-jacket.
Detective Fiction
A Novel
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Considered one of Oppenheim's best works, opening with a fantastic description of the boring life of Mr Peter Cradd,and the transformation he undergoes when he inherits a fortune. A useful insight into middle class life in England in the thirties, and the dreams of downtrodden... A nice Bip Pares jacket to boot.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6.
- a dead man in the bank strong room, rolls of brown paper and balls of string; empty, coffin-shaped boxes... An attractively jacketed edition of this tale by the 'Prince of Storytellers', with artwork by Bip Pares.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Methuen, 1914.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth gilt.
A humorous tale in which magic beans from the East give Alfred Burton an uncompromising devotion to truth and beauty.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Spy thriller in great Bip Pares jacket; Mark Humberstone and a man called Cheng bequeath a marvellous wireless technology to the shady espionage organisation the Council of Seven.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6.
The last espionage novel by this prolific author who famously enjoyed the high-life. A rousing tale of the quest for world peace via the machinations of Italian Fascism.
Modern Literature
London, Rich & Cowan, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Title within xylographic border. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A lovely first edition of a Shakespearean era yarn.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Grant Richards, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original black boards lettered in white. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
An intriguing weird & supernatural tale, born from opiates taken by the author during a convalescence - elements include automatic writing and Christian allegory, set against an often brutally described backdrop of war... Rare.
Children's Books
London & Glasgow, Collins, 1920.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial blue cloth.
The second book in Oxenham's Abbey series, introducing the characters whose ongoing adventures would be the basis for the subsequent books in the popular series.
Weird & Supernatural
London, T. Werner Laurie, [1911].
First edition. 8vo. Title printed in blue & black. Original green cloth blocked in black to upper cover and lettered in gilt to spine.
A collection of short stories by Pain, reflecting the darker side of his writing, which has resulted in a substantial legacy of supernatural, horror and weird fiction.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1969.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original burgundy boards. Dust-jacket, price sticker 25/-.
The first UK edition of the author's first novel, a standout work in his canon; rites-of-passage+generation ships.
Modern Literature
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket.
Nautical adventure with a South East Asian vibe. Uncommon in the jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
'This is a grand story about a shipwreck, a voyage in an open boat and a fight on an island, with a most unexpected twist at the end. So do not forget, "Parkman for Adventure."' (Home & Country, vol.18, 1936).
American Literature
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1924.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An excellent jacket on this "... vivid story, dealing with a curious racial problem." (jacket) - set in Hawaii.
London, Gollancz, 1950.
First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 16/-.
A scarce first Gollancz edition of this harrowing account from the perspective of one of the black men accused of raping two white prostitutes in Alabama in 1931, written with the aid of author & journalist Earl Conrad, who had met Patterson during his time as Harlem Bureau Chief for The Chicago Defender. The title was reprinted very quickly to meet demand, and as a result first impressions are relatively scarce.
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, [1934].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.
A great copy of the UK first edition of this classic ocean-liner romcom, by an American screenwriter, actress, and novelist active during the 1920s through the 1950. Famously brought to the big screen in 1932.
Modern Literature
London, Cassell, 1926. First edition. Inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Tales of Indian life. Uncommon, especially thus inscribed.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Heath Cranton, [1932].
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Distinctly uncommon book about a cure for cancer by Hubin-listed author Hipshon, in great dust-jacket artwork.
Children's Books
London, John Shaw, n.d. [c.1930].. First edition. 8vo. original cloth-backed pictorial boards. Dust-jacket. An uncommon title, with charming illustrative artwork by the author & artist Gladys Peto, distinctly rare in the dust-jacket.
being a record of travel in Southern Arabia. With an appendix on the rock inscriptions by A.F.L. Beeston.
London, Methuen, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 25s.
A very good first edition of Philby's account of his journey from Central Asia to the Indian Ocean, in his role as Ibn Saud's official advisor. An important work, notable for Philby being the first European to enter Abha, capital of Najran, the frontier district between the Wahhabis and the Yemenites, and the second to visit Shabwa, where he was the first to thoroughly examine the city's ruins.
being a description of the Great South Desert of Arabia known as Rub' al Khali
London, Cassell, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth.
Philby embarked on notable journeys, most significantly across the 'empty quarter' in 1932, travelling by camel and car. He meticulously documented geographical and scientific data, secretly recording his findings at night, wary of his distrustful Arab companions.
Detective Fiction
London, Thornton Butterworth, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original pale yellow cloth. Dust-jacket, with 4/6 price sticker to front inside flap.
Great Bip Pares artwork on this murder-mystery revolving around the discovery of a body in an ancient barn.