Horror & Gothic
...with an introduction by Austin Dobson
London, Lawrence & Bullen, 1896.
First edition. 8vo. Original pictorial black cloth blocked in silver.
A near fine example of this attractive edition of Hood's melodramatic ghost story in verse, "a masterpiece of it's kind" according to Edgar Allan Poe. The first edition in book form.
Victorian Literature
Bristol & London, Arrowsmith/Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, [1894].
First edition, second issue with the verso of the title page reset and eighteen titles including the present work listed in the publisher's ad at the rear. 8vo. Original russet red cloth, state with the "f" on the spine uncrossed.
Hope's most famous book, memorably adapted for stage, screen and radio on several occasions.
Detective Fiction
London, Chatto & Windus, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, price-clipped and with price-sticker 7/6.
Twelve stories showcasing Household's literary flair above and beyond the spy/thriller genre he is normally associated with. Attractive dust-jacket.
American Literature
London, Gollancz, 1951.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 9/6.
The first appearance in book form of Langston's character of "Simple", first created for his Chicago Defender column in 1943.
Detective Fiction
London, Cassell, 1906.
First edition. 8vo. Patterned endpapers, publisher's catalogue at end. Original green pictorial cloth.
A very good first edition of this mystery novel by the author of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.
Modern Literature
London, Robert Hayes, 1921.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
First edition of the book born from the original play of the same name. Rare in the jacket.
Detective Fiction
Innes (Michael, pseud. John Innes Mackintosh Stewart) Stop Press
London, Gollancz, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in red to spine. Dust-jacket.
The fourth in Innes' series featuring John Appleby, Detective Inspector of Scotland Yard. A Golden Age of Detective Fiction classic.
Modern Literature
London, Methuen, 1946.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original purple boards lettered in green to spine. Dust-jacket, priced 5s.
Isherwood's semi-autobiographical novel on the world of film-making in Britain during the atrocities of Nazism.
Weird & Supernatural
and other Ghost Stories
London, Edward Arnold, 1925.
First edition. 8vo. Original dark oatmeal cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 5s.
A rather remarkable example of the first edition of this collection of ghost stories by the author of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, extremely uncommon in such condition. "An excellent supernatural collection." (Shadows in the Attic)
Detective Fiction
London, Newnes, [1937].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth.
The first edition in book form (preceded by appearance in The Thriller magazine the same year) of this more grown-up tale by the creator of Biggles, featuring former First World War pilot turned crime-fighter Deeley Montfort Delaroy (aka "Steeley").
Modern Literature
Edinburgh & London, William Hodge, 1924.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth lettered in gilt.
An uncommon collection of stories with a unifying theme of 'movement', written by a Scottish judge.
Modern Literature
London, Alfred A. Knopf, 1930.
First UK edition (on US sheets). 8vo. Original grey boards. Dust-jacket, price-clipped.
A socialist novel set in the fictionally titled " Atlas Iron Works". Uncommon.
Modern Literature
[The Great Wall of China]
Berlin, Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth.
The first edition of this uncommon posthumous work by Kafka. Max Brod, Kafka's friend and literary executor was instructed by Kafka to destroy his unpublished work. Brod ignored the request, publishing the novels and collected works between 1925 and 1935. Brod edited a collection of prose and unpublished stories as Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer, including the story of the same name.
Weird & Supernatural
Tales of Supernatural Terror
Penyffordd, Chester, Ash-Tree Press, 1996.
First edition. One of 500 copies. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket.
The author's second collection of supernatural tales, preceded by Under the Crust (1993). Introduction by Ramsey Campbell.
Children's Books
London, New York & Bombay, Longmans, Green,, 1906.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth extensively decorated in gilt to spine and upper cover.
A good example of this collection of fairy tales, one of Lang's twenty-five 'Rainbow Fairy Books'.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Jonathan Cape, 1935.
First trade edition. Small 4to. Original brown buckram. Dust-jacket.
The first trade edition of Lawrence's famous account of the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War alongside general Middle Eastern and military history, politics, adventure and drama. A unique portrait of this extraordinary man and an insight into the birth of the Arab nation.
Modern Literature
London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
Autobiography of the key founder of the Vorticist movement.
Detective Fiction
London, Collins Crime Club, n.d. [1931].
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original blue boards. Second issue jacket, priced 3/6.
One of the popular thriller series by Philip MacDonald featuring his amateur detective character Anthony Ruthven Gethryn. This was the first title to be published in the 'Collins Crime Club' series of detective and thriller fiction (the first impression can fetch in excess of £2,000), making this scarce early issue jacket an attractive alternative to collectors of crime classics.
Detective Fiction
London, Michael Joseph, 1955.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 10s6d.
One of a series of crime thrillers by journalist, author and war correspondent Macdonald Hastings.
Modern Literature
London, Martin Secker, 1919.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket.
"In contrast to his grimmer Sylvia and Michael, published the same year, [Poor Relations] was a light-hearted comedy about the ups-and-downs of playwright." Wikipedia.
Weird & Supernatural
Stirling, Eneas Mackay, 1950.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 6/-.
Scottish tales of legend and the supernatural, inspired by the Isle of Skye.
Children's Books
London, Gardner, Darton, 1908.
Fifth edition. 8vo. Original yellow/gold pictorial cloth. Pictorial dust-jacket.
Attractive collection of fairy tales, in the highly uncommon dust-jacket.
Historical Fiction
Durban, South Africa, Knox Publishing Company, n.d. [1942].
8vo. Original green cloth.
An interesting volume regarding the queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, great royal wife to Pharaoh Akhenaten.
Weird & Supernatural
Penyffordd, Chester, Ash-Tree Press, 1995.
One of 300 copies. 8vo. Original dark red cloth. Dust-jacket.
A fine copy of this attractive Ash-Tree Press edition of Malden's famous ghost stories, originally published in 1943.
Historical Fiction
London, Heath Cranton, 1925.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth blocked in red. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A tale of high adventure & romance, set in the slave-dealing days of Bristol.
Modern Literature
London, Jonathan Cape, 1971.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original dark brown boards. Dust-jacket, priced £1.50.
Marquez's mesmerising collection of short stories depicting the disparities of town and village life in South America, of the frightfully poor and the outrageously rich, of memories and illusions, and of lost opportunities and present joys.
Weird & Supernatural
and other stories
Ashcroft, British Columbia, Ash-Tree Press, 1997.
First edition. One of 500 copies. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket.
A collection of 18 stories of horror and the supernatural by Richard Marsh, brought together for the first time under the editorial safe pair of hands of Richard Dalby.
Modern Literature
London, Collins, 1957.
First edition. 8vo. Publisher's review slip loosely inserted. Original black boards. Dust-jacket, priced 16s.
Mason's most well-known work, inspired by the time he spent at the Luk Kwok Hotel in 1956 and the prostitution services he observed offered there.
Modern Literature
Translated from the Spanish by Vivian Verst
London, Stanley Paul, [1926].
First English edition. 8vo. Original pale yellow cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A vivid account of Madrid society life, a bestseller in Spain upon publication.
War, Invasion & Spy
or, The British Agent
London, Heinemann, 1928.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt and with publisher's and author's device in black. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6 to spine.
A great copy, benefitting from some professional conservational work to the jacket, of the author's spy stories, based largely on his own undercover experiences in Europe & Russia. It is believed that initially there were 31 stories but 14 had to be destroyed on Churchill's orders as they were in breach of the Official Secrets Act. Many authors of spy fiction have acknowledged the importance and merit of this work over the years, including John Le Carré, Graham Greene, Eric Ambler, Julian Symons and Raymond Chandler.
Detective Fiction
Second Series
London, Bliss, Sands and Foster, 1896.
First edition. 8vo. Publisher's advertisements. Original green pictorial cloth.
The first of prolific writer Meade's literary collaborations, an early example of a medical mystery.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Merritt (A.) Dwellers in the Mirage and The Face in the Abyss
New York, Liveright, 1953.
First combined edition. 8vo. Original pale green cloth lettered in red. Dust-jacket, neatly price-clipped.
Two classic fantasy adventure titles by US author Merritt, both featuring an adventurer stumbling upon a lost civilisation, in Alaska and the Andes respectively.
Weird & Supernatural
New York, Liveright, 1952.
First combined edition. 8vo. Original grey cloth lettered in brown. Dust-jacket.
Two classic titles by US author Merritt that showcase his ability to create suspenseful, eerie atmospheres and blend genres to keep the reader engaged in a world of mystery and the supernatural...
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Los Angeles & Toronto, Borden, [1949].
'Memorial Edition'. 8vo. Original brick red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $3.50.
A very nice example of this memorial edition reprinting one of Merritt's most famous works, an Arabian Nights type fable, from the serialised text for the story's original appearance in Argosy (1924), as opposed to the first book edition published by Putnam in 1926.
Detective Fiction
Miller (Wade, pseud. Robert Allison Wade & H. Bill Miller) Fatal Step
London, Sampson Low, 1949.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
Dave Lee was shot dead as he rode the Joyland ferris wheel. As hard-boiled private investigator Max Thursday stalked Dave's killer, he encountered … a high-powered sob sister, the sadistic king of a gambling syndicate, and a delicate, sphinx-like girl who packed a.38 revolver.
Detective Fiction
Miller (Wade, pseud. Robert Allison Wade & H. Bill Miller) Uneasy Street
London, Sampson Low, 1949.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original red cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
When a phony count, a weird artist, and a dazzling blond beauty relentlessly dog his footsteps, hard-hitting private investigator Max Thursday knows his charming personality isn't the attraction.