"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all. "
— Oscar Wilde
Strange Tales & Mysteries
Duplicate Keys.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1984. PROOF COPY from Pulitzer Prize winner Jane Smiley. Octavo, pp.305. Bound in soft red card covers with title, author's name, dimensions, and publishing details to front. Repeated logo of Jonathan Cape publishers, and 'uncorrected proof' repeated in a band across front and rear of book. Covers..... More
The Life and Prophecies of Mother Shipton. Extraordinary Revelations by this Wonderful Woman.
Birmingham: J Davidson, c.1880. Pamphlet. Octavo. Second Enlarged Edition. In green paper covers, with titles to front cover. Paper cover shows some wear, particularly at the hinge, with slight bleed through from contemporary purple stamp at rear. Text shows some foxing, primarily to edges. Introduction mistakenly credits Agatha Shipton as..... More
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1886. [Classic Strange Tale] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (17 x 11cm), pp.[8]; 141; [1], blank. In contemporary full limp leather with gilt titles and rules to spine, covers bordered in blind, plain blue endpapers, edges speckled red. Ownership Harry Hargreave Fawcett (two discreet stamps), trivial handling..... More
The Lair of The White Worm.
London: W. Foulsham and Co., no date [circa 1930s]. [Strange tale] Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.188; [4] blank. Publisher's purple cloth lettered in yellow, illustrated dust-jacket priced at 4/6. Gift inscription dated Xmas 1946, cloth a touch sunned. Jacket a little nicked and soiled but shows extremely well. A clean..... More
The Lady of the Shroud.
London; Rider. n.d. [1920]. Strange tale. 8vo. Publisher's green cloth titled and decorated in black to spine and front board. faded to spine, light wear to edges. Page block toned as ever with such Rider productions. A most respectable vintage reprint edition of a scarce book. More
Cold Marble and other ghost stories.
London: Faber and Faber, 1985. [Children's ghost stories] FIRST EDITION, REVIEW COPY. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.101; [1]. Publisher's blue cloth, gilt titles to spine, dust-jacket designed by Pentagram with printed price of £5.95 net. With the publisher's review slip loosely inserted. Textblock marginally toned. Fine. More
Vol. 1, Issue 11, October 1955. 'The Devil is Jones'.
London: Atlas Publishing and Distributing Co., Ltd., 1955. STREET AND SMITH'S DETECTIVE MONTHLY. Magazine format, stapled. A truly exceptional copy of this illustrated crime fiction magazine, with contributions from Kenneth Robeson, Scott O'Hara, John Farrell, and John Scott Douglas. Spotlessly clean, with paper covers in glorious, vivid colour. This gripping..... More
Vol. II, No. 2, November 1949. 'In Case of Death'.
London: Atlas Publishing and Distributing Co., Ltd., 1949. STREET AND SMITH'S DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE. Magazine format, stapled. A truly exceptional copy of this illustrated detective fiction magazine, with contributions from Inez Sebastian, C. T. Sullivan, George E. Tolx, and others. Spotlessly clean, with paper covers in glorious, vivid colour. This..... More
Vol. VII, No. 3, February 1950. 'Blind Road'.
London: Atlas Publishing and Distributing Co., Ltd., 1950. STREET AND SMITH'S DETECTIVE STORY MAGAZINE. Magazine format, stapled. A truly exceptional copy of this illustrated detective fiction magazine, with contributions from William Campbell Gault, John Kavanaugh Polito, Edgar Pangborn, and others. Spotlessly clean. Paper covers in glorious, vivid colour, showing one..... More
Vol. II, No. 5, October 1955. 'Death by Diagnosis'.
London: Atlas Publishing and Distributing Co., Ltd., 1955. STREET AND SMITH'S MYSTERY DETECTIVE. Magazine format, stapled. A truly exceptional copy of this illustrated detective fiction magazine, with contributions from Stanley C. Vickers, Thorne Lee, Val Gendron, and many others. Spotlessly clean, with paper covers in glorious, vivid colour. Very small..... More
Vol. 1, No. 3, August 1954. 'Model Murder'.
London: Atlas Publishing and Distributing Co., Ltd., 1954. STREET AND SMITH'S SHADOW MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Magazine format, stapled. A truly exceptional copy of this illustrated mystery fiction magazine, with contributions from Maxwell Grant and Larry Holden. Spotlessly clean, with paper covers in glorious, vivid colour. This gripping collection of short stories..... More
Vol. V, No. 2, October, 1949. 'The Wrong Corpse'.
London: Atlas Publishing and Distributing Co., Ltd., 1949. A Thrilling Publication - THRILLING DETECTIVE. Magazine format, stapled. A truly exceptional copy of this illustrated detective fiction magazine, with contributions from Carroll John Daly, W. T. Ballard, and others. Spotlessly clean, with paper covers in glorious, vivid colour. Appears as new..... More
Vol. VI, No. 12, July 1953. 'Murder's Strip Tease'.
London: Atlas Publishing and Distributing Co., Ltd., 1953. A Thrilling Publication - THRILLING DETECTIVE. Magazine format, stapled. A truly exceptional copy of this illustrated detective fiction magazine, with contributions from Richard S. Prather, Mozely Lawrence, Raymond Drennen, and others. Spotlessly clean, with paper covers in glorious, vivid colour. Appears as..... More
The Stoneground Ghost Tales. Complied from the Recollections of the Reverend Roland Batchel, Vicar of the Parish.
Cambridge: W. Heffer and Sons Ltd., 1912. [Ghost stories] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.[8]; 187; [1] imprint. Publisher's blue cloth blocked in black to spine and in black and white to upper. Engraved bookplate to pastedown, ownership and date stamps of L.A. Wilmshurst to flyleaf. Textblock a little..... More
The Discovery of The Dead.
London: A.C. Fifield, 1910. [Strange Tale / Horror] FIRST EDITION. Octavo, pp.190; [2], advertisements; [16], catalogue. Publisher's dark blue cloth titled and decorated in gilt and white to spine and front board. Internally clean, trivial handling. A fine copy. A scarce piece of supernatural pseudo-scientific weirdness dealing with the emerging..... More
The Mystery of Belgrave Square... With...£40,000 or The Mystery of The Rungapore, Two Women or One, The Fatal Lillies.
Various, including London: Frederick Warne, n.d. [c.1880s]. Octavo, pp.x, 171; pp.[iv], 102; pp.[viii], 152; pp.[vi], 218. Bound in contemporary half brown morocco over marbled boards. Some rubbing, scuffing and edgewear but strong and solid. A very good copy. Front inner hinge starting, some minor soiling to prelims, internally clean. A...... More
The Strand Magazine: My Sword For Lafayette, The Lost Bowlers, etc.
London: George Newnes, March-November 1905. Nine magazines, in clamshell box (29 x 20 x 13cm). Small tear to the rear cover of the June issue, else a particularly clean set. Very good. This run includes the complete serial of Pemberton's historical novel plus stand-alone stories by Richard Marsh, P.G.Wodehouse and..... More
![The Puff-Ball Menace [in] Tales of Wonder, and Super-Science. No. 3. John WYNDHAM, John BEYNON](/pictures/thumb/52579WyndhamTalesofWonder.jpg?v=1547505479)
The Puff-Ball Menace [in] Tales of Wonder, and Super-Science. No. 3.
Kingswood: The World's Work, Summer 1938. [Science Fiction] FIRST UK APPEARANCE. Octavo magazine (24 x 17cm), pp.128. Publisher's colour illustrated paper covers, held together with three staples. Light browning throughout. Some loss to head and tail of spine. A clean, bright copy; very good. First published in the US as..... More
Cesar Cascabel.
London: Sampson, Low, Marston and Co., 1891. FIRST UK EDITION. Crown octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.xii, 313 [35]. With 80 wood engraved illustrations by George Roux, including a frontispiece. In publisher's green cloth with gilt titles and polychrome blocked illustrations to spine and upper board. All edges gilt; foliate endpapers..... More
Adrift in The Pacific.
London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company Limited. 1894. [Adventure novel] 'New and Cheaper Edition'. Two volumes in one. Octavo. pp. viii, 151; 142. First published in 1889. In publisher's gilt-embossed green cloth with black-embossed aquatic balloon-escape design. With 11 illustrations, including frontispiece. Mild spotting throughout. Text block a little shaken..... More
Their Island Home. The Later Adventures of the Swiss Family Robinson.
New York: G. Howard Watt. 1924. First US edition. Octavo, pp. x, 272. Dark red cloth covers with coloured illustration to the front cover and green titles to cover and spine. Some wear to the bottom and top edges of the covers, small area of red staining from where the..... More
The Castle of The Carpathians.
London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company, no date [1905]. New and Cheaper Edition [being the Illustrated Uniform Copyright edition of 1905]. Post octavo, pp.211; [1], imprint; [1], advertisement; [1], blank. Publisher's pictorial cloth blocked in gilt and colours. Ink ownership, 'Boys Brigade' prize label, some thumbing else contents are clean..... More
The Child of The Cavern. Or Strange Doings Underground.
London: Sampson Low, Marston and Company. [1910]. Classic adventure. 'Author's Illustrated Edition' [most likely the Christmas 1910 'New Illustrated Shilling Series for Boys' noted by Taves and Michaluk]. Crown octavo, pp.174. Bound in publisher decorative red cloth blocked in blue and black, with 'Pears Soap advert to rear cover. Some..... More
Doctor Ox, And Other Stories. Translated from The French of Jules Verne by George M. Towle.
Boston, James R. Osgood and Company. 1874. First Authorized US Edition, published as part of the Saunterer's Series. 18mo, pp.292; [1], advertisement; [2], blank. Bound in publisher's brick red cloth embossed with gilt yacht and titles, coated brown endpapers, all edges red. Owner name else internally clean, spine ends chipped..... More