Modern Literature
London, Selwyn & Blount, [1930].
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket.
Attractive jacket artwork on this tale of a "white girl who married a young half-breed belonging to one of the North American Indian tribes." (jacket blurb)
Detective Fiction
An Edwardian Mystery
London, Macmillan, 1939.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 7s6d.
A nice jacketed example of this "piquant and persuasive study in the macabre" (Sunday Times). Royde-Smith was the first woman literary editor of the Westminster Gazette and in that capacity published the early work of such writers as Rupert Brooke, Graham Greene, Elizabeth Bowen, and Rose Macaulay. Rare.
Detective Fiction
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1953.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 9/6.
A very good first edition of this crime thriller by an author who remains somewhat enigmatic.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1917.
First edition. 8vo. Original pale red cloth stamped in black. Dust-jacket, priced 5/-.
An early collection of war tales by the original 'Sapper', extremely uncommon in the original jacket.
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.
Detective Fiction
London, Gollancz, 1931.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth lettered in orange to spine.
Sayers' sixth work featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, published in the US as Suspicious Characters. Murder among a community of artists in Galloway, Scotland.
Historical Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1966.
First edition. 8vo. Original terracotta boards. Dust-jacket, priced 30s.
The first volume of Scott's famous 'Raj Quartet'.
Non-Fiction
London, George Allen & Unwin, 1932.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original grey cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8s6d.
The Count was a member of the ancient Sforza dynasty, descendant from a branch of the Dukes of Milan, and related to the Pallavicini family as well as other Italian families such as the Medici and Orsini.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1934.
First edition. Autograph letter from the author (as Shearing) tipped in at front endpapers. 8vo. Original pink cloth.
A murder mystery, based on the unsolved murder of Harriet Buswell in 1872. The autograph letter from Bowen to the Scottish lawyer and keen amateur criminologist William Roughead is dated December 1939, and mentions a book of his published that same year, Neck or Nothing.
![Joseph Shearing [Marjorie Bowen], Orange Blossom, first edition, with A.L.s., 1938](https://lycanthiabooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/85663-300x300.jpg)
Horror & Gothic
London, Heinemann, 1938.
First edition. 1½ page autograph letter from the author tipped in at front. 8vo. Original orange-brown cloth lettered in gilt.
A superb association copy: Roughead's writings inspired the Shearing novel The Fetch (dedicated to him). The book is notable for containing the ghost story 'They Found my Grave' not available elsewhere in the reprint collections issued in the author's lifetime. Edward Wagenknecht was exuberant about this ghost story in his essay on Marjorie Bowen (Seven Masters of the Supernatural), praising its 'atmosphere of evil'.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Hutchinson, n.d. [c.1925].
Third edition. 8vo. Original pale blue cloth. Dust-jacket, with 4/- price sticker to spine.
A great collection of weird tales, described by Bleiler as "Excellent", no less.
Modern Literature
London, Methuen, 1935.
First edition. Inscribed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7s6d.
Inscribed with compliments from the author, an important Zionist who advocated peaceful coexistence with the Arabs in Mandatory Palestine.
Modern Literature
London, John Long, 1935.
First edition. Signed presentation copy from the author. 8vo. Advertisements dated Summer 1935 at rear. Original dark cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Attractive first edition, inscribed by the author 'To Nelly "Kelly" Boyce from Andrew Soutar 1935'.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1937.
First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original orange cloth blocked in black. Second issue dust-jacket, priced 2/6.
Attractive jacket artwork graces this uncommon, posthumously published mystery novel by Marxist writer, literary critic, intellectual and activist St John Sprigg.
Detective Fiction
and other stories
London, Hutchinson, [1934].
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket, 'Blue Star Library' issue.
Further crime thriller fiction based in the Pacific from the author of The Tales of Mynheer Amayat.
From a story told by a Merchant of Edinburgh...Noel G. Fyfe
Edinburgh, Plaid, [c.1946].
First edition. Large 8vo. Original blue boards. Dust-jacket, price-sticker of 8/6 to front inside flap.
A great illustrated book centred on Edinburgh, published towards the end of the remarkable illustrator Jessie M. King's life.
Weird & Supernatural
and what they undertook
London, Sands & Co., 1898.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth lettered in gilt.
A collection of stories told over seven days by various narrators, including a longer, nautical tale, 'The Voyage of the Lethe', told by a barber. Other tales include intriguing titles like 'Wanted, a Corpse,' 'The Witch's Dance,' and 'The Spoiled Spell,' many with some modest supernatural content. A rare book by the author of the 1912 weird mystery novel, The Mummy.
London, Seeley, 1910.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth gilt, gilt vignette to upper cover, top edge gilt.
An important account of the Rendille peoples of the northern Eastern province of Kenya, near Lake Stefanie. Uncommon.
Detective Fiction
London, Collins Crime Club, [1939].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth.
An automobile accident strands Nero Wolfe and Archie in the middle of a private pasture - and a family feud over a prize bull.
War, Invasion & Spy
London, Gifford, 1938.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An uncommon first edition, recounting one British woman's bravery in the face of the Spanish Civil War.
London, Collins Crime Club, 1951.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original dark orange cloth. Dust-jacket, no price.
Uncommon and attractive UK edition of this legal crime thriller by Tillett.
Horror & Gothic
London, Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1929.
First edition. 8vo. Original russet cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 15s.
An attractive first edition of this important work on vampire lore, by the author of History of Witchcraft and Demonology (1926).
Weird & Supernatural
compiled from the recollections of the reverend Roland Batchel, vicar of the parish
Penyffordd, Chester, Ash-Tree Press, 1996.
One of 400 copies. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket.
Originally published in 1912, "...Swain's tales share many features with those of James' and draw on the friends' common interests and antiquarian studies. They are however rather milder in tone and regularly incorporate a playful humour not often found in James' work. The tales relate the adventures of a fictionalized version of the author, Mr Batchel, Rector of Stoneground parish. Although by today's standards, readers may find Swain's stories rather lacking in supernatural horrors, their subtle qualities become apparent on re-reading, and many find Mr Batchel one of the most enduring creations of English ghost fiction." - Wilson, Shadows in the Attic
Modern Literature
London, Lincoln Williams, [1934].
First edition. 8vo. Original orange cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
"The discovery of his wife's unchastity provides the shock which sends him questing backwards, seeking to revive his dead illusions". Nice jacket artwork.
Modern Literature
London, Dent, 1954.
First edition. 8vo. Original brown cloth. Dust-jacket, correctly priced 8s6d.
An attractive first edition of the famous 'play for voices' Under Milk Wood, by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage.
Detective Fiction
London, Nelson, 1928.
First edition. 8vo. Original red cloth lettered in gilt. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
Scarce detective fiction title, in attractive Abbey jacket.
Modern Literature
London, James Barrie, 1957.
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 13s6d but with manuscript alteration.
School stories by an author perhaps better known for her ghost stories, and her role as anthologist of same, today.
Modern Literature
London, Nelson, 1937.
First edition. 8vo. Original cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
The first edition of this prolific author's second book; she would go on to write across a range of genres, including mystery and supernatural.
Detective Fiction
London, Grayson & Grayson, 1932.
First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
An excellent example of this highly attractive jacket; uncommon detective fiction title.
Detective Fiction
London, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1934.
Crime Circle Novels edition. 8vo. Original pale blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 2/6 to spine with additional price sticker to inside front flap for 3/6.
Striking jacket design by Lee Elliott; the title was first published in 1928.
Modern Literature
London, Collins, [1927].
First edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 7/6.
A modern reworking of the Arabian Nights by popular Irish author Tynan - scarce in the jacket.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1959.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket, priced 13s6d.
A very good first edition of this later adventure of Aboriginal Australian detective DI Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1960.
First edition. 8vo. Original black boards. Dust-jacket.
An excellent first edition of this later adventure of Aboriginal Australian detective DI Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, 1961.
First edition. 8vo. Original red boards. Dust-jacket, priced sticker of £1.75 over original price 13s6d.
A very good first edition of this later adventure of Aboriginal Australian detective DI Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte.
Detective Fiction
London, Francis Aldor, 1946.
First UK edition. 8vo. Original blue cloth. Dust-jacket, priced 8/6.
A good first edition of this '40s adventure of Aboriginal Australian detective DI Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte.
Detective Fiction
London, Heinemann, [1960].
First UK edition. 8vo. Original dark blue boards. Dust-jacket, 13s6d.
A very good first edition of this later adventure of Aboriginal Australian detective DI Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte.