Item #41038 The Stretton Street Affair. William LE QUEUX.

The Stretton Street Affair.

London: Cassell and Co., 1924. [Spy fiction] ASSOCIATION COPY. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.320. Publisher's burgundy cloth titled and decorated in black to spine and front board. Gift inscription to title page: "To Enid Agabeg | from Uncle | William Le Queux ". Internally clean, very light spoting to page edges. Inscribed Le Queux is difficult to happen upon, and in a copy of this quality it is very scarce. Le Queux was close with the Agabeg family, including Enid's father Colonel Agabeg of Peers Court, and Le Queux stayed with them in Aspley Guise in Bedfordshire on several occasions. However, the use of "uncle" in the inscription is a term of affection, and does not indicate a familial relationship. Le Queux dedicated "The Broadcast Mystery" to Enid in the same year this book was published, and is speculated to be the model for a sympathetic character called Edris in Le Queux's "Hidden Hands". We are indebted to Chris Patrick, co-author of "William Le Queux: Master of Mystery" for this information on Enid and Le Queux's connection with the Agabegs. 'The man who really deserves credit for helping develop the spy novel is William Le Queux' (Peter Haining). William Le Queux, seems to have done everything (or at least said he did); journalist, diplomat, explorer, early pilot, radio enthusiast and the author of a staggering 197 books. There is even the suggestion that Duckworth Drew, one of Le Queux's espionage heroes, was a direct inspiration for James Bond. Item #41038

HUBIN, Crime Fiction IV, p.920. PATRICK, Chris, private correspondence.

Price: £375.00

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