Detective Fiction
London, Ward Lock, 1935
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket priced at 3/6 on front flap and also has tell tale 3 digits on spine indicating a slightly later issue.
Hubin listed title featuring the author's regular detective Insepctor Mclean and his rather fuller-witted assistant Sergeant Brook
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Vawser & Viles, 1947
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Four stories for children, two fantasy: 'Death Swamp' (impregnated with radium) and The Lake under London (subterranean lake filled with monsters)
Uncommon in jacket.
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
London, Ward Lock, 1939
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket (the 3 digits - 902 - indicate an early reprint).
A man claimed that with his artifical ear-drums he could detect sounds inaudible to ordinary people. This acute listening would allow him to manipulate any combination lock and open any safe. Was he the one that opened Mrs. King's safe and stole all of her precious diamonds and jewels?
Detective Fiction
London, Ward Lock, 1930
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket (the 3 digit number (245) on spine indicates it is an early reprint).
As the Pretty Sinister blog asks: how can anyone resist the subtitle? "In Which a New and Quite Different Type of Detective Unravels a Mystery Staged in Chicago, Bagdad of the Lakes, London of the West!"
Casimer Jech, crooked curio dealer, is approached by millionaire Amos Carrington and together they hatch a scheme to acquire a rare manuscript mistakenly labeled as something fairly worthless to be auctioned off at an Evanston estate.
Weird & Supernatural
a narration of the perilous sojourn therein of George Cowper, mariner, etc.
London, Henry J. Drane, [1897].
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial light grey-green cloth.
Castaways on uncharted island fall under seemingly supernatural power of life and death held by the Mighty Justin, Lord of the Land of the Living Dead. In fact, the island is permeated by deadly volcanic gas for which Justin alone possesses an antidote that is administered only to loyal subjects. Bleiler p. 78.a
A good copy of a scarce book rarely found in decent condition.
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.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Ward Lock, 1935
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket price clipped. Three digits at base of spine indicates this is an early reprint.
Hubin listed title with strong sci-fi overtones in which an Oriental cadre of secret masters aspire to immortality through imbibing an elixir of unknown provenance, and by using advanced technology to preserve themselves. They threaten the world, but are defeated in the end (Blieler p61, the only title by this author listed).
Detective Fiction
London, Skeffington, 1932
8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket priced at 2/6 on spine with '5th Thousand' on spine. Skeffington often used such wording to give the impression of sales success.
UK author, prolific between the Wars, specializing in thrillers (often with Oriental villains) and mysteries. The Sound-Machine is centred around a revolutionary machine that destroys by sound vibration (Blieler p.183).
A stunning example of a book that rarely turns up in a jacket especially one as superb as this.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1928
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, likely a second issue as it is priced 3'6 on spine.
A tale about a fifteen year old child - Hazel Wood - who has the gift of second sight - of being able to see things taking place far away from her.
Uncommon in jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1930
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket correctly priced at 7/6.
Hubin-listed tale involving the escapades of a couple of multi-millionaires' sons who come up against a band of rum-runners.
No copies in commerce at time of listing.
Detective Fiction
London, Jarrolds, 1935
First UK edition (Translation of Chateau en Limousin published in Paris in 1934). 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket.
Suzanne Marguerite Tinayre was a prolific French novelist and woman of letters. This was her only crime novel and is listed in Hubin.
It concerns the celebrated case of Madame Lafarge and whether she really murdered her husband nearly a century earlier.
Very scarce with only one copy cited by COPAC in the British library.
Modern Literature
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1925
First edition, publisher's file copy. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket correctly priced at 7/6.
Collection of short stories and novelettes including one WW1-themed tale 'Out of Darkness' by an author best known for Mrs Wiggins of the Cabbage Patch.
Alice married Cale Young Rice who was a poet and playwright in 1902. They spent most of their life traveling the world and becoming known in the literary scenes of New York and London.
Winners and Losers appears to be the only book they wrote together.
Rare in jacket.
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.
Modern Literature
London, Mills & Boon, 1925
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket correctly priced at 7/6 on spine.
Short stories some of them set in Ireland. Thirteen tales six featuring her recurring character Sandy Acland.
Dorothea Conyers was a prolific Irish novelist. Her books are romantic novels set among the Irish sporting gentry. Her output numbered some 40 titles.
A very difficult title to obtain in a wrapper
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1939
First UK edition. 8vo. Not original publisher's cloth, some sort of library binding. Photographic dust-jacket correctly priced at 7s 6d on front flap.
Published in US as 'Poor, poor Yorick.' A Hubin-listed title involving the dumping of a corpse off the coast of Connecticut and the apparent suicide by poisoning of a hostess on the eve of divorce.
Frederick Clyde Davis (1902-1977) was an American pulp writer. He was educated at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, and became a professional writer at the age of 22. Davis wrote several novels featuring his series detective, Professor Cy Hatch of which this is one.
Detective Fiction
London, Columbine Publishing Company Ltd, 1939
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket 5/- overprice although original price of 3/6 is still visible on the spine.
From the publisher's blurb: 'Delia Romney was born to sin and she elected to make that the way of her life. She murdered without remorse. She sold herself without hesitation or contrition.'
A typically risqué and sensationalist story from a small publishing house well known for both its racy plot lines and lurid dust-jackets.
Detective Fiction
London, Hurst & Blackett, [1927].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket correctly priced at 7/6 on spine.
Basis for a 1931 American Oscar winning pre-code film that tells the story of an alcoholic defence attorney in San Francisco who must defend his daughter's ex-boyfriend on a charge of murdering the mobster she had started a relationship with, whom he had previously achieved an acquittal for on a murder charge. Starred Norma Shearer, Leslie Howard, Lionel Barrymore, and Clark Gable
A very rare book into film title especially in such exceptional condition. Adela Nora Rogers St. Johns (1894-1988) was an American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. She wrote a number of screenplays for silent movies but is best remembered for her groundbreaking exploits as "The World's Greatest Girl Reporter" during the 1920s and 1930s.
Modern Literature
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1914
Hodder & Stoughton Sevenpenny library, first edition thus. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
First published in U.K. in 1889, this is the first edition where getting a jacketed example is feasible.
A long 'short' story featuring Allan Quatermain in which following his father's death, Allan fights with Zulus aides by Hans, rescues and marrow who becomes the mother of his son Harry, and eventually loses her because of the jealousy of the Baboon woman.
Modern Literature
London, Cassell, 1920
First edition. 8vo. Original light brown cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 8/6 net on spine.
An Allan Quatermain novel, direct sequel to The Ivory Child. An interesting way of resurrecting the character of Allan away from the period and Africa of his day.
Rare in jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Faber & Gwyer, 1926
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced at 7/6 on spine.
In this Hubin-listed murder story, the author shows the placid life of Minden Town disturbed by a mysterious tragedy. The mystery remains a mystery almost to the very end of the book. A rare and early Faber crime title.
Detective Fiction
London, John Gifford Ltd, [1938].
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7/6.
A distinctly hard-to-find title by the creator of The Black Pilgrim.
Detective Fiction
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1950
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original boards, Dust-jacket.
A near fine example of this the first book by the author using this pseudonym. An uncommon classic of crime fiction, revolving around a sudden death at a cocktail party.
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
Edinburgh & London, William Hodge & Company, Limited, 1927
First edition, inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket.
A very good copy. Inscribed by the author, one presumes, thus: 'To dear Winifred, with much love from an affectionate old friend Winnie, in remembrance of her visit to Station House. June 1927.' An easy to find book, but very uncommon both inscribed and in jacket. Contains a novel and two shorter pieces.
Modern Literature
London, Chapman & Hall, 1927
First edition, second impression. Large 8vo. Tipped-in slip. Plates. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Inscribed by the author E.H. Bostock, most famous for the Glasgow Zoo and Circus on New City Road, as well as cinema and variety house interests in Paisley, Hamilton and Wishaw; he opened a cinema in the Zoo and Circus. His animals were internationally famous and appeared in such films as The Rajah's Sacrifice (1916).
The foreword notes: "Mr. Bostock has been called the Barnum of Britain. Judged by the magnitude and multitude of his enterprises, he may well claim the title, for he has been a pioneer of modern entertainment as well as a practitioner of older forms."
Weird & Supernatural
London [&c.], Cassell, 1941
First UK edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
A good copy of this title from the popular Fu Manchu series of books by Sax Rohmer.
Detective Fiction
Gunn (Victor, pseud. Edwy Searles Brooks, aka Berkeley Gray) Ironsides Smahes Through.
London, Collins, 1940
First edition. 8vo. 3pp. advertisements. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7'6.
A very good first edition of this Ironsides title, distinctly uncommon in the original dust-jacket. Victor Gunn was one of several pseudonyms for Edwy Brooks, alongside his perhaps more well-known moniker 'Berkeley Gray'.
Detective Fiction
London, Hamish Hamilton, 1953
First edition (preceding the first US edition by a few months). 8vo. Original burgundy boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 10s.6d.
Chandler's hard-boiled noir classic, defined by the author himself as "my best book". In 1955, the novel received the Edgar Award for Best Novel. It was later adapted as a 1973 film of the same name, updated to 1970s Los Angeles and starring Elliott Gould.
![Frank King, The Ghoul, signed first edition, [1926]](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/82304-300x400.jpg)
Horror & Gothic
London, Geoffrey Bles, [1926],
First edition. Signed & inscribed by the author. 8vo. Original cloth.
Signed and inscribed by the author on front endpaper with this distinctive, flourishing signature.
The basis for the movie of the same name starring Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger and Ralph Richardson (making his movie debut)
Extremely scarce signed and inscribed by the author.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
London, Harrap, 1937,
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket.
Brunngraber was a German industrial designer and author. In Radium he speculates about near-contemporary cornering of the radium market causing problems in a hospital using it as a medicine cure cancer.
Rare in jacket. An important sci-fi title.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London, Cassell, 1917.
A collection of eleven tales, one of which is a locked room mystery and two of which have definite weird content. Not mentioned by Bleiler.“The Mystery of Howard Romaine”
involves the disappearance of a coffin and a body from a locked room (Adey p.300)The Cuckoo Clock" is a tale of delirium involving the transmigration of a soul into a cuckoo clock. "The Fatal Fairy" is about a man who kidnaps a fairy at dawn, whereupon it turns into a monstrous baby vulture -- until he releases it a day later.Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager. This collection appeared in the year of his death.Very scarce in jacket.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London, Collins, 1947.
Stephen Maddock was a pseudonym of JM Walsh and used for his more explicitly criminous titles.
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.
Modern Literature
First edition.
London, Peter Davies, 1930.
The author’s first novel, the bizarre, satirical humour of which shocked many. Listed in Bleiler.
Modern Literature
First edition.
London, Robert Hale, 1936.
A psychological thriller set in colonial India. Rare.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London, Cassell, 1935.
The Phantom Gunman is the author’s first crime novel and imagines what would happen if Chicago gangsters were to come over to London. Features serial character Mrs Pym.Exceptionally scarce in a jacket
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
First edition.
London, Burke, 1962.
Uncommon in jacket.
Detective Fiction
First edition, ‘7th thousand’.
London, Skeffington, [1932].
Skeffington often used ‘7th thousand’ label on title page to try and show that their titles were in high demand so this is not necessarily a reprint.A Hubin-listed mystery featuring the author’s serial character, detective-crook Jimmy Traynor.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1935.
Featuring serial character Gilbert Larose The Poisoned Goblet tells of the efforts by a gang to kidnap the child of Lady Ardane.Fabulous dustwrapper art. A desirable title.
War, Invasion & Spy
First edition
London, Putnam, 1933.
Signed and inscribed by the author one month after publication (March 1933). A Hubin-listed secret service adventure set in London and India.
Detective Fiction
First edition.
London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1933.
When the dignified life of Steven Kester came to an undignified end there were several people with potential motives. Serial character Spike Tracy acts as detective and solves the mystery.Rare in d/w.