Detective Fiction
London, Hammond, Hammond, 1947.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped with price-sticker for '3/6'.
An attractive example of this uncommon title by a seemingly relatively obscure author...
African literature
Introduction by Oliver Tambo. Edited by Ruth First
London, Heinemann, 1965.
First edition. 8vo. Original black boards lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket.
A very good first edition of Mandela's collected early writings, including his famous speech at the Rivonia Trial (1964). Distinctly uncommon, preceding his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom by almost thirty years.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1951.
First edition in book form. 8vo. Original orange cloth blocked in black. Dust-jacket,
Originally serialised in Collier's magazine from 24 June to 22 July 1950, under the title Phipps to the Rescue, this romantic comedy involving butlers, safecracking, movie moguls and film stars is largely set in Hollywood.
War, Invasion & Spy
A Yankee Hobo Soldier of the Queen
New York, Minton, Balch & Company, 1929.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
The autobiography of an American 'hobo' who served with the British Mounted Police and cavalry during the Boer War.
Modern Literature
London, The Hogarth Press, 1959.
First edition, first issue (with piano factory fire mentioned). 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket.
The first edition of this famously captivating memoir of rural life in a bygone era, as seen through the eyes of a young boy growing up in the idyllic Gloucestershire countryside.
Detective Fiction
A Police Diversion
London, Collins Crime Club, 1950.
First edition. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
A good example of this incredibly versatile writer's detective fiction, featuring his series character Chief Detective Inspector McKay.
Modern Literature
A Novel
London, Jonathan Cape, 1963.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 25s.
A very good first UK edition of Thomas Pynchon's first novel, a macabre twentieth century classic; uncommon in such condition.
Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesian Printers Ltd, 1956.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket.
A very good first edition of this fascinating work on the modern history and development of Katanga, one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914, written by someone who was actively involved over various periods of time.
Modern Literature
A self-portrait in Ideas
London, Jonathan Cape, 1965.
First edition. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 30s.
Fowles' "self-portrait in ideas", in which he tries to represent the necessity of the individual not to conform. Published on the heels of his success with The Collector.
Modern Literature
London, Constable and Company Ltd, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An attractive first edition, the story revolves around the compelling attraction of some monolithic stones in the highlands of Scotland and the spell that they weave.
Detective Fiction
London, Robert Hale, 1948.
First edition. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
An attractive first edition of one of the 'Dormouse' titles, by the author of The Ghoul.
Detective Fiction
Dean (Spencer, pseud. Prentice Winchell) Dishonour Among Thieves
London & New York, T. V. Boardman, 1959.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
A good example of the first UK edition of this work, issued as number 242 in the 'American Bloodhound Mystery' series.
Detective Fiction
London, Geoffrey Bles, 1960.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
One of the last Lancelot Priestley novels by this prolific writer.
Modern Literature
London, Hutchinson, 1974.
First edition, second impression. 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, price-clipped, with publisher's promotional bellyband.
The second printing of the joint Booker Prize Winner (with The Conservationist, by Nadine Gordimer) in 1974.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
A Tale of Cosmic Adventure
Pennsylvania, Fantasy Press, 1948.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $3.00.
'No single phrase can adequately describe "Triplanetary". It might be termed a Galactic Romance, or a Cosmological Fantasy, since it is a work of the imagination with the cosmos as its background. But above all else, it is a story, a story of thinking beings, human, super-human, and alien.' (dust-jacket blurb)
![Owen Rutter, Violation, first edition, [1941]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/85457-300x300.jpg)
Modern Literature
A Variation on an Old Theme
London, Robert Hale, [1941].
First edition. Publisher's File Copy (stamp to front endpaper). 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket.
Great jacket artwork by Golden Cockerel Press regular Dorothea Braby. An updated take on 'The Rape of Lucrece', about the legendary Roman noblewoman Lucretia.
Modern Literature
London, Macmillan, 1953.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket.
A penetrating satire on the life of a street in a seaside town, capturing the seedy gentility of the permanent residents of Barcelona Road.
London, James Bowden, 1898.
First edition. 8vo. Advertisements. Original brown pictorial cloth lettered in gilt to spine.
A great first edition by a writer best remembered perhaps as the author of The Lost Continent: The Story of Atlantis (1899). This collection is the second book he published under the pseudonym Chesney.
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.
London, Methuen, [1916].
First edition. 8vo. Publisher's catalogue at end. Original blue cloth.
The adventures of one of Marsh's most intriguing characters, Miss Judith Lee, a young teacher of deaf pupils whose lip-reading ability involves her with mysteries that she solves by acting as a detective.
London, Methuen, 1905.
First edition. 8vo. Publisher's catalogue at end dated March 1905. Original red cloth blocked in gilt.
One of the obscurer titles by the author of The Beetle. Hubin-listed.
London, Clarion Press, 1940.2 vol. (all published). Mixed edition. Small 8vo. Original blue printed wrappers.An important, oft-referenced book on all things relating to the Seychelles, the first volume dedicated to the history of the archipelago, and the second focussing on other elements including geology, botany, zoology, agriculture and economy. A third volume was planned, relating to the British Occupation, but it was never published. Rare.
Horror & Gothic
London, Sands & Company, 1899.
First edition. 8vo. Woodcut device to title. Original pictorial cloth lettered in gilt to spine.
A gothic mystery novel set on the English moors involves a country squire in danger and his son investigating threats to his life, tracing back to an Indian subplot. Central to the tale are a mad prince, a Dartmoor escapee, multiple disguises, a vengeful Indian thug...and extensive cycling. The story opens with a unique 'face at the window' moment. Uncommon, notably compared to its American counterpart.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1924.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/6 with contemporary bookseller's price sticker '1/-' to upper panel.
The novel's title references H.G. Wells' The Time Machine, where Morlocks live underground as the world's workers. In Welsh's book, the Morlocks symbolise covert groups in trade unions aiming to incite revolution, leading to tragic consequences during a major miners' strike. Notably, the author was a miner, trade unionist, and served twenty years as an MP for the Scottish Labour Party.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
'In "Bulldog Drummond Attacks" the old enemies live again, recreated by Gerard Fairlie, who has himself the original of Sapper's Bulldog Drummond.' (jacket)
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A hard book to find in the jacket, written by purportedly by the man who inspired the character 'Bulldog Drummond'.
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, 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).
London, Stanley Paul, 1936.
First edition, early reissue stating '3rd thousand' on title-page. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, with overlaid price-sticker '4/-' to spine.
Early printing of this hard-to-find crime thriller, especially tricky in equally coeval jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1933.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
An attractive edition of this thriller title by Fairlie, on whom 'Sapper' supposedly based the character of Bulldog Drummond. After Sapper's death in 1937, Fairlie continued the Bulldog Drummond book series.
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, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original light orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.
A very good copy of this uncommon Goodchild title, the second in his Inspector McLean series.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Great jacket artwork by Hastain on this 'Jim Maitland' novel.
![Sapper, Temple Tower, second issue, [1930]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/85396-300x300.jpg)
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, [1930].
8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6 and with announcement for 'Tiny Carteret', so assumed second issue.
An exciting tale of a man in fear for his life and in desperate need of Bulldog Dummond's help in penetrating the ill-omened Temple Tower.
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 & Stoughton, 1934.
First edition. 8vo. Original pale blue cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
An attractive edition of this thriller title by Fairlie, on whom 'Sapper' supposedly based the character of Bulldog Drummond. After Sapper's death in 1937, Fairlie continued the Bulldog Drummond book series.
London, The Graphic, 1890.
Folio. 26pp including the wrappers.
A very fine example of this iconic piece of Africana, focusing on the explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley.
Modern Literature
London, A M. Philpot, 1923.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6 on spine and with later 1/- sticker to upper panel.
An uncommon work, in great jacket, by this prolific Scottish author, who produced a remarkable 120 books, plays and essays from 1877 onwards, many under the pseudonym 'Rita'.
Detective Fiction
London, Longmans, Green and Co., 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A scarce detective fiction title, one of only three titles by this author recorded in Hubin.
Modern Literature
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1934.First edition, third printing. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 3/6.Early printing of this adventure story which dates to around 1934 based on the author's other titles listed in the rear catalogue; in excellent jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Thornton Butterworth, 1929.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Attractive first UK edition of this collection of short stories, mostly based around the islands of the Pacific.
Modern Literature
Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1938.
First US edition. 8vo. Original yellow cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, neatly price-clipped.
Attractive jacket artwork on this US edition of one of Waugh's most famous works, in which the protagonist, William Boot, is loosely based on the journalist Bill Deedes, with whom Waugh had worked alongside in Abyssinia.