Detective Fiction

ALLAIN, Marcel., FANTOMAS CAPTURED. TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY A.R. ALLINSON., London: Stanley Paul & Co. Ltd. [1926]. 1st edition in English. Octavo, original red cloth titled in gilt on spine panel. [4] pp. publisher's ads at rear. Slight foxing to endpapers, cloth spine every so slightly tanned, a few minor marks to cloth, a very clean, near-fine copy. $125.00

BLOCK, Lawrence., ME TANNER, YOU JANE., [New York]: The Macmillan Company. [1970] 1st edition. Hint of a bump to one lower corner, but fine in dust wrapper, crisp and unopened. Price corner unclipped on dust jacket flap. A lovely copy of the first Tanner novel to be published in hardcover. $125.00

CROFTS, Freeman Wills., MAN OVERBOARD., London: Published for the Crime Club by Collins. [1936]. 1st edition. Original orange cloth titled in black on spine panel. Colonial issue, with no price on the dust wrapper but otherwise identical to the domestic UK edition. A trifle dusty, and a few stray marks on front paste-down, otherwise fine in dust wrapperthat is lightly frayed at spine head and has a few short closed tears at edges but is 99.9% complete with no chips. A wonderful copy of a very scarce book. $500.00

DOYLE, Arthur Conan., THE ADVENTURE OF THE RED CIRCLE. A REMINISCENCE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES [IN] THE STRAND MAGAZINE, MARCH AND APRIL, 1911; VOLUME XLI NUMBERS 243 AND 244., London: Published by George Newnes, 1911. 1st appearance in print of this story, later collected in THE LAST BOW (1917). Two volumes, original pictorial wrappers. Part 1, in the March, 1911 issue, is illustrated by H.M. Brock and Joseph Simpson; part 2 (April issue) is illustrated by Brock alone. Full, complete issues of the British issue of the magazines, with all ads and covers present. Also included are stories by P.G. Wodehouse (Absent Treatment), Bernard Darwin (A Shot in the Dark, a golfing tale), E. Nesbit, Barry Pain and many others. Light creases on the spines, some very minor signs of use but overall very attractive, fresh copies. Bound volumes of THE STRAND from this period are not uncommon, individual issues are quite scarce, and individual issues containing the Sherlock Holmes stories are quite sought after indeed. $300.00

GRIFFITHS, Major Arthur., IN TIGHT PLACES. SOME EXPERIENCES OF AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE., London: Jarrold & Sons. 1900. 1st edition. Octavo, original blue cloth titled in gilt, bevelled edges, top edges gilt. Heraldic bookplate on front paste-down. Foxing to endpapers, and half of the front free endpaper missing; cloth worn at edges and generally quite grubby, a good copy only. An important collection of early detective fiction stories. $55.00

HUME, Fergus., THE CRIMSON CRYPTOGRAM., London: John Long. 1900. Second edition, so stated on title page. Original pictorial red cloth with a design of two men before a cityscape with a full moon rising on upper front panel, titled below this in black and white, spine titled in gilt. [8] pp. publisher's catalogue, dated June, 1900, bound in at rear. Text block browned, last leaf of catalogue creased, ink name on half-title leaf, moderate dust soiling to cloth and some light bruising to extremities; overall a very good copy. $100.00

KOONTZ, Dean R., THE WALL OF MASKS BY BRIAN COFFEY [PSEUDONYM]., Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company. [1975]. 1st edition. Original brown boards titled in black on spine panel. A fine copy in a very nearly fine dust wrapper which shows some light rubbing and has one tiny puncture at rear spine fold. The dust wrapper is not price-clipped. An excellent copy. $125.00

MORRISON, Arthur., MARTIN HEWITT INVESTIGATOR. ILLUSTRATED BY SIDNEY PAGET., London: Ward, Lock and Co. Limited. No Date [circa 1900] Early reprint. Pictorial boards, red cloth spine titled in gilt Issued as a volume in Ward Lock's series of 2/ Copyright novels, described on the rear panel as "Crown 8vo, Litho picture boards, Cloth back". The pictorial front board is a full-colour lithograph depicting the detective in room and a face peering in the window, it is a re-painting of the black & white frontispiece illustration. Frontispiece with tissue guard, numerous drawings within the text and full-page plates (included in the pagination) by Sidney paget. A few small stains, boards a bit worn at edges, ink name on recto of frontispiece leaf, a very good, solid copy. $125.00

MacDONALD Philip., THE RASP., London: Collins. [1924]. 1st edition. Original brown cloth titled in orange on spine & front panel, front panel with a border in orange, publisher's device in orange at base of spine panel. The true first edition of the first Anthony Gethryn mystery novel. A Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone. Front free endpaper neatly excised, evidence of a price-sticker removal from rear free endpaper, a few small marks to the cloth but a very clean tight copy, slightly dusty but overall very good or better. Rare. $1000.00

ORCZY, Baroness., THE OLD MAN IN THE CORNER. ILLUSTRATED BY H.M BROCK., Toronto: William Briggs. 1909. 1st Canadian edition. Octavo, original blue cloth with pictorial device of the "old man" in a cricle at center of front panel, gilt titles. British sheets with new preliminaries and binding with "Briggs" at base of spine panel. Queen's Quorom and Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone title, a collection of short detective tales solved by the Old Man in the Corner, the original armchair detective. Lacking the frontispiece and the front free endpaper, cloth with very slight stains and a bit rubbed at the extremities, one corner very slightly bumped but overall a very good copy of an extremely uncommon edition. $350.00

ROBINSON, B. Fletcher and J. Malcolm Fraser., THE TRAIL OF THE DEAD. THE STRANGE EXPERIENCE OF DR. ROBERT HARLAND. WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY ADOLF THIEDE., London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited. 1904. 1st edition. Octavo, original dark gray cloth titled in gilt on spine & front panel, pictorial paper label bordered in red on front panel. Frontispiece with tissue guard, plus 15 additional black & white plates inserted throughout the text. One plate is loose and has a touch of fraying at the fore-edge, minor rubbing to cloth at extremities, otherwise a near-fine copy of a very scarce book. Robinson makes it into Queen's DETECTIVE SHORT STORY bibliography for his work THE CHRONICLES OF ADDINGTON PEACE, this collaboration precedes by one year. $225.00

WALLACE, Edgar., THE FOUR JUST MEN., London: The Tallis Press. 1905. 1st edition. Octavo, original mustard cloth titled in black with the £500 REWARD advertisement on the front panel. Folding frontispiece, 224 pp. Prize solution leaf intact at rear. Cloth uniformly darkened along spine panel, a bit soiled on front & rear panels, bookplate on front paste-down, overall a very nice copy, very good. $200.00