Detective Fiction
London, Jarrolds, [1927].First edition thus. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.Although originally published in 1909, this later edition is quite superb in the original dust-jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Mills & Boon, 1929.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
The first UK edition of this crime thriller; Mills & Boon today have a reputation for "romantic fiction", but they were early champions of several subsequently famous authors, including Jack London and P.G. Wodehouse.
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, [1936].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Classic stuff by Jean Barre, here writing under her own name rather than a pseudonym.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1964.
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
A very good first edition of this later Dr Palfrey tales, by one of the most prolific authors in the crime/thriller genre.
Modern Literature
A romance of the air London, Wright & Brown, [1935].First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.A passionate predecessor to the "Mile High Club"...? An excellent dust-jacket, regardless.
Modern Literature
The novel of the play by Arnold Ridley and Bernard Merivale
London, Selwyn & Blount, 1928.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Striking jacket artwork adorns this tale of railway sabotage.
Modern Literature
London, Wright & Brown, [1934].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
An attractive jacket on this Wright & Brown title from the early thirties; a woman is exhausted and disillusioned, and sets off on an adventure of self-discovery.
Detective Fiction
London & Boston, John Lane; Roberts Bros,, 1895.
First edition. 8vo. Original purple decorative cloth.
One of the most well-known and collectable of Lane's important 'Keynotes' series, this being the seventh in the series, and the first of two appearances therein for the "King of Redonda" (the other being his influential work Shapes in the Fire, number XXIX). Aubrey Beardsley provided the title-page/cover designs and most if not all of the monogram key devices for the series up until vol.XXIII.
Prince Zaleski was Shiel's first published work, drawing inspiration in part from the detective tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and comprising three mysteries: "The Race of Orven", "The Stone of the Edmundsbury Monks", and "The S.S.", each to be solved by the eponymous Zaleski, an eccentric Russian nobleman living in exile in a derelict Welsh abbey.
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, 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.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Michael Joseph, 1945.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
A very good first UK edition of aviator Ernest Gann's exciting, realistic aeronautic adventure set in the far north of Canada.
Children's Books
The Story of a Boy...with an introduction by E.V. Lucas
London, Jonathan Cape, 1932.
First illustrated edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Jefferies' famous "story of a boy", illustrated for the first time by Pooh illustrator E.H. Shepard; uncommon in the original dust-jacket. Accompanied by original printed prospectus.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Macdonald, 1947.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 8/6.
An intriguing tale by this author of crime fiction, the title taken from a line by Pope, "What beckoning ghost along the moonlight shade Invites my steps and points to yonder glade?".
Detective Fiction
London, Robert Hale, 1972.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Travis McGee experiences the rough side of Southern hospitality...
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1957.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 12/6.
A very good first edition of this later and hard-to-find Freeman Wills Crofts title, featuring series character Chief Superintendent French, "the most human sleuth to be found in detective novels today" (Punch).
Weird & Supernatural
London, Eveleigh Nash & Grayson, 1923.
8vo. Original cloth.
A rare imprint of this classic collection of dark & gothic tales by a master of the genre, Sheridan Le Fanu.
War, Invasion & Spy
Translated from the German by Huntley Paterson.
London, Harrap, 1931.
First UK edition, second impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
A superb copy of this gripping first-hand account of the German Zeppelin raids on England during the Second World War.
Detective Fiction
London, W.H. Allen, 1983.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
We are kept off balance throughout this icy, understand thriller...brilliant (Newsweek review).
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.
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
London, Heinemann, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket.
A good first edition of Dunsany's classic humorous novel about an alcohol-loving clergyman who thinks he is the reincarnation of a dog...the jacket artwork says it all.
Sexuality & Erotica
London, Heinemann, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
What would happen? On this lively supposition Author Winter has written a tale that is blurbed as another 'South Wind' but is more like Somerset Maugham's spiteful 'Cakes and Ale' (Time Magazine, 1936)
...Rambles in a rural, old-fashioned country, with chat about its history and romance. Illustrated by photographs
London, Foulsham, 1933.
New Edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket.
Originally published in 1916, and followed by several other titles in a similar vein by this author, this "New Edition" is newly illustrated and delightfully dust-jacketed. A cycle trip around Lancashire.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Herbert Jenkins, [c.1934].
First edition, second impression. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 2/6.
A wonderful, bright jacket on this scarce early printing by a prolific author, who wrote over 40 novels, often with a flair for unusual phrasing that would be lucky to escape the editor's blue pencil these days.
![Alternative view of Armstrong (Anthony) [pseud. George Anthony Armstrong Willis] Jimmie Rezaire](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/84122_2-300x400.jpg)
London, Stanley Paul, 1927.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Advertisements. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
Detective fiction with spy thriller overtones, courtesy of Anglo-Canadian author 'Anthony Armstrong' - striking jacket artwork; scarce.
Sexuality & Erotica
Translated by Charles Hope Lumley
New York, for William Godwin, 1933.
First US edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
The first US edition of the first English-language translation of this text, preceded by the Fortune Press edition of 1929, and the original French edition in 1901. Beresford Egan's characteristic illustrations reflect perfectly the wit & satirical glee of the text, a tale of the pursuit of amorous hedonism.
Detective Fiction
London, Stanley Paul, [1934].
First edition. 8vo. Publisher's compliments stamp to title; advertisements. Original black cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
All of the first editions by this author of crime fiction appear to be scarce - despite the wear to the jacket this is an attractive example, with a visually compelling jacket design.
Detective Fiction
London, Hutchinson, [1933].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, with ?publisher's price-sticker 2/6 overlaid on original price.
A good+ copy of this title, uncommon in US or UK edition - the author is well-known for his sport-related crime novels, including 70,000 Witnesses.
Detective Fiction
London, Gollancz, 1936.First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6.An uncommon Asey Mayo tale and the first time we have encountered it in a jacket.
Detective Fiction
A Judge Peck Mystery Story
London, George Newnes, [1936]..
First UK edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 2/6.
A stunning jacket on this first UK edition of Arkham House stalwart Derleth's second Judge Peck mystery, in which not one but three sons-in-law meet an unknown death. First published in the US in 1934. The splendid jacket artwork features a naked man on all fours, of course, holding a smoking gun.
London, George G. Harrap, 1919.
First Clarke edition. 4to. Plates and illustrations. Original sage cloth, decorated in black.
Harry Clarke's superb black & white images provide the perfect counterpoint to Poe's dark tales. A decent copy, if anything enhanced by the Shrewsbury School's gilt coat-of-arms to upper cover.
Detective Fiction
The Case of the Murdered Band Leader
London, John Lane The Bodley Head, 1939.
First UK edition. 8vo. 2pp. advertisements. Original teal cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.
Set in the glittering background of an ultra-modern night club in San Francisco, peopled by famous stars, Sudden Silence has an interest rivalled only by the strangeness of its incidents. (jacket).
![Alternative view of Hull (E[dith]. M[aud].) The Captive of Sahara](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/84087_2-300x450.jpg)
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, Faber & Faber, 1959.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth lettered in white to spine. Dust-jacket.
An autobiographical recounting of the author's first-hand experiences of apartheid in South Africa.
Detective Fiction
London, The Literary Press, n.d..
First edition thus. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket.
What was the secret of Chesterton Square?
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.
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.
Modern Literature
London, Jonathan Cape, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth, lettered in gilt at spine. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A tale of deprivation and adversity set near the mouth of the Thames. Scarce in jacket.
War, Invasion & Spy
New York, William Sloane, 1957.
First US edition, first printing, inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, priced $3.50.
A great inscribed first US edition of the book that would become one of the most well-loved of the British war films (1958), starring John Mills. The inscription on the title-page reads, 'For "The Principal" To commemorate his 80th birthday and in hopes he will survive to see at least twenty more books published - Kipper - August 5th 1958' ('Kipper' being the author's nickname among friends).
Detective Fiction
London, Ward, Lock, 1938.First UK edition, first impression. 8vo. 2pp. advertisements. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6.A very good first UK edition by a prolific, somewhat bonkers crime writer, a foray into the "locked room" subgenre, revolving around a mysterious manuscript (possibly derived from a short story penned by the author's wife, herself a writer[?]). Scarce in the first issue jacket.
Modern Literature
London, Longmans, Green,, 1923.
First edition. 8vo. 4pp. advertisements. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 6/-.
A very good example of this early jacketed work set in Dartmoor, Devon. The adverts at the back are all related to West Country tales, including My Lady of the Moor by John Oxenham, which features none other than Beatrice Chase as the heroine.
Detective Fiction
London, Rich & Cowan, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Visually intriguing jacket artwork, and a tale of espionage, treasure, murder, and at least one giant hunchback, of course.