Modern Literature
London, Heinemann, 1958.
First edition. 8vo. Original dark blue boards. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
The second novel in Burgess's Malayan trilogy, set in Dahaga (Malayan for 'thirsty) and following the rise & fall of British expat Victor Crabbe, a microcosm of the waning influence of the British Empire.
Detective Fiction
London, Cassell, 1928.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
The first UK edition of this particular compilation of short stories by Limehouse Nights author Thomas Burke. Set in the bustling streets and alleys of London's East End, the book offers a vivid and often dismal portrayal of life in one of the city's most diverse and vibrant neighbourhoods. Distinctly uncommon in the jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Constable, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Tales of Chinatown and Limehouse: "horrible, ironical, whimsically aloof"
Modern Literature
Burke (Thomas); Nevinson (C.R.W., jacket artist) Limehouse Nights
London, Grant Richards, 1917.
Fourth printing. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Later issue dust-jacket (c.1921), price-clipped.
An early printing of Burke's famous tales of London's then Chinatown at the early part of the 20th century, in a slightly later but scarce dust-jacket. The work garnered both opprobrium and praise upon its publication in 1916, with some feeling it painted a morally damaging picture of Chinese immigrants cohabiting with white women, in part worsened by the developing trend for so-called "Yellow Peril" fiction by mostly US authors. Jacket artwork by the artist C.R.W. Nevinson, who became famous as a war artist.
London, Ward Lock, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, with code '617' to spine.
A surprisingly uncommon crime fiction title, one of only four titles by this author recorded in the British Library.
Modern Literature
A political thriller
London, Constable & Co Ltd, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
Attractive jacket artwork graces this self-styled 'political thriller' set mainly in a north-country mining town.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Methuen, 1939. First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, cheaper issue jacket correctly priced 4s.6d. A scarce edition of this the third title in Burroughs' 'Pellucidar' series, set in a hollow earth environment. Wonderful jacket artwork.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1939.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original pink cloth. Dust-jacket, neatly price-clipped.
A very good example of this attractively jacketed first UK edition of this Mars title by Tarzan-creator Burroughs.
American Literature
London, Calder, 1964.
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, priced 42s.
The first UK edition of this famous counter-culture tale of an addict-hustler who travels to Mexico and then Tangier in order to find easy access to drugs, and ends up in the 'Interzone', a bizarre fantasy world.
American Literature
Paris, The Olympia Press, 1959.
First edition, first issue with original price of "Francs 1.500" on the back wrapper. 8vo. Original publisher's stiff green wrappers.
The first edition of Beat Generation Burroughs' most famous work, banned in the UK and USA at the time.
Modern Literature
London, Hodder & Stoughton, [1925].
First UK edition, first printing. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7'6.
An excellent first UK edition of this collection of nine stories by American writer Struthers Burt, author of the non-fiction, intriguingly entitled account The Diary of a Dude Wrangler (1924). Burt's papers are housed at Princeton University.
Children's Books
London, Faber and Faber Limited, 1941.
First UK edition. Oblong 4to. Original pictorial boards. Dust-jacket, priced 6/-.
An appealing first UK edition of this enduring children's classic, in part the inspiration for Stephen King's Charlie the Choo-Choo: From the World of The Dark Tower (2016).
Modern Literature
London, Chatto & Windus, 1964 [1963].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 21s.
Byatt's first novel, an examination of the relationship between a girl and her father. Uncommon.
War, Invasion & Spy
First edition.
London, Grant Richards, 1915.
Accounts of trench warfare on the Western Front during WW1. Uncommon in the dust jacket especially one as good as this.
Horror & Gothic
London, Edward Arnold, 1948.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 8s6d.
The second and final collection of ghost stories by retired civil servant and former governor of Ceylon Andrew Caldecott, distilling his lifelong fascination with the supernatural into simple yet remarkably disturbing stories, in a similar vein to publisher stable-mate M.R. James. The mundane becomes horrific, the everyday is unnerving...and the commonplace is terrifying.
Horror & Gothic
London, Edward Arnold, 1947.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth-backed boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.
The first of two collections of ghost stories by retired civil servant Caldecott, distilling his lifelong fascination with the supernatural into simple yet remarkably disturbing stories, in a similar vein to publisher stable-mate M.R. James. The mundane becomes horrific, the everyday is unnerving...and the commonplace is terrifying.
Weird & Supernatural
Second English edition.
London. Richard Bentley, 1850
A very handsome copy of Calmet's influential work on angels, demons, spirits and vampires, originally published in French in 1746, first appeared in an anonymous English translation in 1759. This translation is taken from the two volume 1751 third edition, a much expanded and revised version, and the last to be corrected by Calmet himself. This is the second English edition and is rarely encountered in original binding.
Modern Literature
Calvert (E. Roy) Capital Punishment in the Twentieth Century.
With a Preface by The Right Honourable Lord Buckminster
London & New York, G.P. Putnam, 1927.
First edition, signed by the author. 8vo. Original green cloth, lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 5/-.
A rallying cry by this Quaker writer against capital punishment, outlaying the failures of the death sentence as a deterrent. Suitable jacket artwork by renowned British artist Frank Brangwyn.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1928.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The first edition of the author's first book, memorably transferred to the big screen in 1936, starring Boris Karloff.
Sports & Pastimes
London, Hutchinson, [1935].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10/6.
Land speed record holder, adventurer, treasure hunter and avid motor racer Sir Malcolm Campbell recounts his exciting life.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Chicago, Shasta Publishers, 1948.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $3.00.
Collection of seven stories. The title story is the basis for John Carpenter's classic science fiction movie The Thing. The striking dust jacket illustration is by Hannes Bok.
Modern Literature
London, Hamish Hamilton, 1948.
First English edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 9s6d.
First English edition of Camus' account of the Algerian town of Oran overtaken by a deadly epidemic, forcing its inhabitants to confront existential despair and the absurdity of human suffering. The story explores themes of isolation, morality, and the human condition.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1936. First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth with yellow spine label. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6. The second of two Buchanesque thrillers by Cannan, right down to the style of the jacket artwork. The author was well known for her detective fiction and children's stories.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1935. First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth with yellow spine label. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6. The first of two Buchanesque thrillers by Cannan, right down to the style of the jacket artwork. The author was well known for her detective fiction and children's stories.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1935.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth with yellow spine label. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The first of two Bunchanesque thrillers by Cannan, right down to the style of the jacket artwork. The author was well known for her detective fiction and children's stories.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Translated by Lawrence Hyde.
London, Bles, 1925.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A great first edition in English of Čapek's novel about a secret explosive formulation and the trouble it causes, not least for its inventor, the chemist Prokop: "a rich and wildly imagined work, unusual in its almost orgiastic baroque exploration of power, sexuality, and guilt." (Bleiler). The wonderful art deco jacket artwork sets the mood perfectly! The original Czech edition was published the previous year.
Weird & Supernatural
A Book of Romances, Fantasies, Whimsies, and Levities
Edinburgh & London, William Blackwood, 1900.
First edition. Publisher's presentation copy with blind-stamp to title. 8vo. Original dark green cloth lettered in gilt.
An author who turned his pen to various genres, including crime fiction and weird & supernatural. Rare.
Modern Literature
London, Secker & Warburg, 1958.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 16s.
The first novel by Guyanese author Jan Carew, a tale of tropical adventure, considered a key work in West Indian literature.
Detective Fiction
London, Collins Crime Club, 1958.
First edition. 8vo. Original dark orange boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 10s6d.
Architecture + murder = classic stuff.
Detective Fiction
London, Harper & Brothers, 1930.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth.
A solid first edition of Carr's first novel, of the locked-room subgenre. The work introduced his series character Henri Bencolin: "an impossible murder in a gambling club - the victim, seen to enter an empty room with all entrances under observation, is subsequently found there, beheaded" (Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers, p.146)
![Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland[-]Through the Looking-Glass, 1911](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/84706-300x300.jpg)
and Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice found there
London, Macmillan, 1911.
8vo. Original red cloth lettered and stamped in gilt.
A pleasing copy of Alice's adventures, including sixteen colour plates by Tenniel.
Children's Books
London, Macmillan, 1893.
Third edition, the suppressed 'sixtieth thousand' issue. 8vo. [xii]+224pp+[ii]. adverts. Original secondary binding red cloth, blind-stamped 'Presented for the use of Mechanics Reading Rooms etc.' to upper cover.
Very rare. This suppressed issue was, according to Carroll, riddled with printing production faults. The illustrations were over-printed, the pages badly folded and it led to him threatening to terminate his contract with publishers Macmillan:
'the book is worthless... much as I should regret the having to sever a connection now lasted nearly 30 years, I shall feel myself absolutely compelled to do so, unless I can have some assurance that better care shall be taken, in future, to ensure that my books shall be of the best artistic quality attainable for the money' (Letters p.995).
Only sixty copies had gone out when Carroll intervened. He asked Macmillan to destroy the remainder of the edition, which led to Through the Looking Glass being out of print until 1897. As mentioned in an 'Advertisement' inserted into the coeval edition of Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, Carroll later changed his mind about destroying the remaining copies of this edition, and instead favoured rebinding it and distributing it to charitable institutions, which had been done with the very first suppressed Alice, and as is the case with this copy.
Prior to this copy, there were sixteen known copies of the 60th thousand issue which went to Mechanics Institutes, according to the census compiled by Dr Selwn Goodacre a few years ago. Compared to other copies recorded, this particular copy does seem to be in superior condition.
Children's Books
London, Juvenile Productions, [1937].
Merlin Series' edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Lewis Carroll's classic for children, here illustrated by D.R. Sexton and issued for the Merlin Series.
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1932.
4to. Original decorative cloth. Dust-jacket.
A very good example of this uncommon H&S edition of Alice.
Modern Literature
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket.
The third and final part of Sally Carson's trilogy, following Crooked Cross and The Prisoner, detailing the effects on a young British diplomat of his contact with the Bavarian Kluger family and Nazism.
![Inez Castello, Man-Eater, first UK edition, [1934]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/85547-300x300.jpg)
Modern Literature
London, Arthur Gray, [1934].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 3/6.
Striking jacket artwork on this seemingly uncommon title.