London: Ward, Locke and Co., 1900. First Edition. Octavo. Bound in publisher's blue cloth, with gilt titles and scene of a lady and a gentleman in an attitude of surprise in gilt to front board, gilt titles to spine; bevelled edges. With bookseller's stamp. Binding is rubbed, worn to extremities, few minor scuffs. Internally clean and free from spotting, two neat ownership inscriptions to front flyleaf. A book of investigative club stories, the first of which, The Death Chair, features an evil Spanish mastermind who devises an elaborate scheme for stealing priceless artefacts - which involves firing their owners three hundred feet into the air with a giant spring. Luckily, Chetwynd manages to foil Don Santos, 'one of the most crafty, scientific, and satanic criminals of the day'; the other stories are in a similar vein. With bookseller's stamp, "Hermes, Faganstr, 62, Strand" to front paste down. Item #43941

Price: £495.00