DICKENS, Charles; BROWNE, H.K.

Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, the

London: Chapman and Hall, 1844. Selfishness Portrayed in a Satirical Fashion" First Edition of Martin Chuzzlewit in the Original Cloth DICKENS, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. With Illustrations by Phiz. London: Chapman and Hall, 1844. First edition in book form, first issue following all points in Smith including vignette on title-page with amount on sign post transposed to read "100£" and seven studs in the trunk. Plates facing pp. 387 and 386 transposed as per Michael Sadleir's copy at UCLA, and all of the other thirty-four first issue points. According to Smith "An earlier 13-line errata leaf exists with the same data that is found on the 14-line leaf; the setting was changed to 14-lines for a better balance." Octavo (8 11/16 x 5 7/16 inches; 220 x 139 mm). xiv, [errata with 14 lines, verso blank], 624 pp. Forty etched plates including frontispiece and title-page vignette by Hablot K. Browne aka "Phiz." Publisher's primary binding of moderate blue diagonally-ribbed cloth. Covers stamped in blind, spine stamped in blind and lettered in gilt with "London 1844" at foot. Original pale yellow coated endpapers. Armorial book-plate of "Sherwin" on front paste-down and ink signature of "J.Sherwin Sherwin" on half-title. The text-block has been expertly re-cased using the original yellow-coated end-papers. The original cloth is near fine with no fading and just the bare minimum of strengthening at the spine ends and slight wear to the lower corners. The gilt lettering is bright and fresh. The plates have light to moderate foxing which is mainly confined to the blank margins. There is a 3/8 inch diameter stain on the margin of the plate facing page 160 and a light marginal stain on the facing leaves. Closed tear on margin of O2 (pp. 195/6), corner (3/8 x 1/2 inch) torn away from FF4. Light foxing to end-papers and first and last leaves only. The text block remarkably clean and fresh. Overall this is an exceptional copy of a title rarely found in better condition. Housed in an early fleece-lined green cloth clamshell case. Martin Chuzzlewit is listed as number five in Michael Sadleir's list of Charles Dickens comparative scarcities. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit originally appeared in twenty numbers bound in nineteen monthly parts January 1843 - July 1844. This, the first edition in book form, appeared on July 16, 1844 at 21s. and was the last of Dickens's picaresque novels. Dickens thought it to be his best work - but his readers disagreed. In fact, Martin Chuzzlewit was the first of his novels to lose readers during serialization and the publisher Chapman and Hall suggested that Dickens's fees should be reduced. This never happened but it caused a rift that was not bridged until Chapman and Hall published A Tale of Two Cities in 1859. Dombey and Son (1848), David Copperfield (1850), Bleak House (1853), Hard Times (1854) and Little Dorrit (1857) were all published by Bradbury and Evans. .

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Book number: 03229

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: BROWNE, H.K. Illustrated Books Nineteenth-Century Literature

DICKENS, Charles; HAYWOOD, Helen R., artist

Little Dorrit

London: Bradbury and Evans, 1857. With a Fine Original Watercolor on Calf Doublure By Helen R. Haywood Granddaughter of Master Binder Robert Riviere [DICKENS, Charles]. HAYWOOD, Helen R. artist. Little Dorrit. With Illustrations by H.K. Browne. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1857. First edition, first issue with all twenty-one internal text flaws as noted by Smith. Octavo. (8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in; 216 x 138 mm). xii, 625, [1, blank] pp. Forty engraved plates by "Phiz" (H.K. Brown), including frontispiece and engraved vignette title page. With an inserted preliminary leaf printed "With Water Colour Drawing on Calf Doublure by" [signed] Helen R. Haywood. Bound ca. 1930 by Rivière and Son (stamp signed to upper doublure) in full wine crushed morocco. Gilt French fillets. Gilt vignette to upper board. Five gilt ruled raised bands. Gilt lettered and decorated compartments. Original watercolor painting by Helen R. Haywood on calf to upper doublure (signed "HRH" at lower left corner) with gilt rolled decorative borders. Red moire silk endpapers. Red moire silk to lower doublure with gilt rolled borders. All edges gilt. Neat ink inscription on front blank "Louise Dalton Kirk./from/Mother and Dad-/1936-". A unique and fine copy. Housed in the binder's original fleece-lined red cloth slipcase. The exquisite ca. 1930 original watercolor on calf and signed by Helen R. Haywood elegantly reproduces in color the Phiz plate "Flora's Tour of inspection" found opposite to page 519. Helen R. Haywood (1908-1995), English painter and children's book illustrator Helen R[iviere]. Haywood was the granddaughter Robert Riviere, founder of the great bindery which executed this lovely binding. Her mother, Mabel, was Riviere's ninth and last child. She was born in England in 1908 but was taken as a child to Chile, where her father, an engineer, worked on the trans-Andean railway. She remained in Chile until she was approximately 15 years old. Her experiences were recounted in an unpublished novel,"Childhood in Chile." Miss Haywood was a keen student of science and an amateur naturalist and anthropologist. Many of the books she illustrated for the publisher Hutchinson & Co. London, were keenly observed and scrupulously accurate depictions of plants, birds and animals. When commissioned to do illustrations for a children's book on dinosaurs, her research into the skin colors she subsequently chose for her dinosaur illustrations was cited by the Royal Academy of Sciences. Haywood was also a practitioner of the art of fore-edge painting. She became acquainted with the art form through an uncle who was associated with the Bayntun-Riviere Bindery of Bath. She did several fore-edge and double fore-edge paintings on commission every year from the 1930s to the 1970s for Inman's Books, an antiquarian book dealer in New York City. She died in Bournemouth, England in 1995. "Little Dorrit originally appeared in twenty numbers, bound in nineteen monthly parts, the last part forming a double number, from December 1855 - June 1857. It was published in book form on May 30, 1857" (Smith). Provenance: Louise Dalton Kirk 1936; Purchased by David Brass Rare Books from a private California collection 2007; sold to Randal Moscovitz 2008. Smith I, 12. Eckel pp. 82-85. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 05162

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: HAYWOOD, Helen R., artist Fine Bindings Nineteenth-Century Literature Original Art in Book

DICKENS, Charles; SPARKS, Timothy; BAYNTUN, binder; CRUIKSHANK, George

Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi

London: Richard Bentley, 1838. The Most Celebrated of English Clowns" Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi Superbly Bound by Bayntun ca. 1920 Four Magnificent Color Pictorial Inlaid Characters Handsomely Extra-Illustrated [DICKENS, Charles]. BAYNTUN, binder. Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi. Edited by "Boz." With Illustrations by George Cruikshank. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. [II.] London: Richard Bentley, 1838. First edition, first issue, with no border around final plate and correct page listing in list of "Embellishments." Two octavo volumes (7 1/2 x 4 5/8 inches; 191 x 117 mm.). [i]-xix, [xx, blank], 288 pp; [i-ix, [x, blank], 263, [264, printers imprint]. Engraved frontispiece portrait in volume I, and twelve engraved plates by George Cruikshank. The frontispiece to each volume hand-colored (volume I. "Joseph Grimaldi" & Volume II. "Grimaldi's kindness to the Giant"). Extra illustrated by the insertion of forty-eight engraved plates, eighteen of which are hand colored. Six of the hand colored plates are by F.W. Pailthorpe; six by Isaac Cruikshank? and two by George Cruikshank. All three of these artists are famous Dickens illustrators. Bound ca. 1920 by Bayntun, stamp-signed in gilt "Bayntun. Binder. Bath. Eng." on rear silk endleaves. Full forest green crushed levant morocco, covers triple-ruled in gilt surrounding a thin inlaid border of black morocco. Spines with five raised bands, decoratively bordered in black and gilt in compartments, gilt lettering, gilt board edges and decorative gilt turn-ins. Front and back doublures of each volume with a superb figure and background inlaid in various colored morocco's. Green watered silk endleaves, all edges gilt. Spines very slightly darkened otherwise very fine. Housed in the original, fleece-lined, green cloth slipcase. A spectacular example of a pair of early Bayntun bindings, typical of the firm's first-rate work and use of the best materials. The four inlaid designs include "Gaby Grin, The Eccentric Clown." and three other characters from the book. Joseph Grimaldi (1779-1837), called by Britannica "the most celebrated of English clowns," and generally considered without equal as a clown of pantomime. Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi is the autobiography of the nineteenth-century clown Joseph Grimaldi. There has been much debate about the exact nature of Dickens' role in the writing of this book. Forster said that Dickens wrote only the introductory chapter; others have said that he edited the manuscript, with the help of his father; and Bentley has stated in print that Dickens wrote a significant portion of the work. Eckel says, "It is plain that the last chapter is in Dickens' style and that other parts of the book are his. Grimaldi laid the foundation for his memoirs, but in a rough and diffuse manner. He gave the manuscript to Thomas Egerton Wilks, who, after some condensing, sold the manuscript to Bentley, who, in turn, passed it to Dickens for the purpose of embroidery." According to Kitton, copies with the frame around the final plate (as here) are more valuable than others because of their relative scarcity; the border was added without Dickens' consent, and when he expressed his displeasure, it was quickly removed. Bayntun of Bath. George Bayntun (1873-1940) served his apprenticeship with the Taylor family in Trim Street and started his own bookbinding business in Northumberland Place in 1894. He employed London binders to raise the standard of craftsmanship and soon moved into a larger workshop in Walcot Street. Book Auction Records for 1906 recognized his success: "He has brought intelligence into play as well as high craftsmanship". In 1920 he purchased the bindery business of George Gregory, and in 1939 the Bayntun and Rivière binderies were incorporated into a new set of premises on Manvers Street (Bath), from where the business still operates today. George Bayntun had an especially good relationship with many of the pre-eminent American dealers including Brentano's. Gimbel B64. Eckel pp. 140-2. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 04691

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: SPARKS, Timothy BAYNTUN, binder CRUIKSHANK, George Color-Plate Books Fine Bindings Caricatures Extra-Illustrated Copies

DICKENS, Charles

Mystery of Edwin Drood, the [and] John Jasper's Secret

London: Chapman and Hall, 1870. First Edition of Edwin Drood and The First 'Conclusion' - John Jasper's Secret Uniformly Bound by Zaehnsdorf DICKENS, Charles. The Mystery of Edwin Drood. With Twelve Illustrations by S.L. Fildes, and a Portrait. London: Chapman and Hall, 1870. First edition in book form of Dickens's final work, left unfinished at the time of his death. Octavo (8 3/16 x 5 1/4 inches; 208 x 133 mm.). vii, [1, "Illustrations"], 190 pp. Frontispiece portrait of Dickens ("Engraved by J.H. Baker, from a Photograph taken in 1868, by Mason & Co."), wood-engraved vignette title by J. Brown, and twelve wood-engraved plates, two by the firm of Dalziel Brothers, ten by Charles Roberts, all after Samuel Luke Fildes. Occasional marginal staining, wood-engraved plate facing p. 98 with small (1/4 inch) marginal tear. A very good copy. Together with: [EDWIN DROOD], MORFORD, Henry, attributed to]. John Jasper's Secret: Being a Narrative of Certain Events Following and Explaining "The Mystery of Edwin Drood." With Twenty Illustrations. London: Publishing Offices, 1872. First English edition in book form. Octavo (7 7/8 x 5 1/4 inches; 201 x 133 mm.). [iv], 252 pp. Twenty wood-engraved plates. Uniformly bound ca. 1920 by Zaehnsdorf for the Gardenside Bookshop, Boston (stamp-signed in black on verso of front free- endpapers). Full polished tan calf, covers decoratively bordered in gilt. Gilt corner pieces with small floral onlays in black morocco, decorative center pieces stamped in blind. Spines with five raised band decoratively tooled in gilt in compartments with small brown morocco floral onlays. Edwin Drood with two brown morocco labels lettered in gilt, John Jasper's Secret with one brown morocco label lettered in gilt. Gilt ruled board edges, decorative turn-ins, marbled end-papers, top edge gilt. Joints a little rubbed but quite sound. A very attractive example housed together in a felt-lined fitted marbled board slipcase. "When Dickens died on June 9, 1870, he had completed only enough of his manuscript to make up six instalments, leaving unfinished a work which had commanded the widest attention for its opening numbers, and which promised to be one of his most effective and popular books. Although only three parts had been issued prior to his death, publication of the work continued, and on completion with Part 6 of all available material, the vast army of readers was left high and dry as to ‘The Mystery.' The Author during the writing of the story never disclosed the ultimate development of his plot" (Hatton and Cleaver). John Jasper's Secret was the first of many attempts to solve The Mystery of Edwin Drood. The work was written by the New York journalist Henry Morford (1823-1881) and his wife. Smith, 16; Gimbel H330; Sadleir 705a; Not in Sadleir. .

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Book number: 04215

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: English Literature Nineteenth-Century Literature Books in Parts Illustrated Books Fine Bindings Mystery and Detective Fiction Nineteenth-Century Literature

DICKENS, Charles; CRUIKSHANK, George, illustrator

Oliver Twist

London: Richard Bentley, 1838. Charles Dickens Unromantic Portrayal of Criminals and Their Sordid Lives DICKENS, Charles. Oliver Twist. By Charles Dickens. Author of "The Pickwick Papers" In Three Volumes. Vol. I. [II. III. ] London: Richard Bentley, 1838. First edition of Dickens' second novel. The "Charles Dickens" issue, with the title-page authorship credit to Charles Dickens instead of "Boz" and with the "Church" version of the final plate. First state of volume III with "pilaster" instead of "pier" or "pedestal" on page 164. Almost all the internal flaws according to Smith present. Three octavo volumes (7 15/16 x 4 7/8 inches; 202 x 124 mm.). Volumes I and III in twelves, volume II in eights. [iv], [1]2-331, [1, blank], [4, advertisements]; [iv], [1]2-307, [1, blank]; [iv], [1]2-315, [1, blank] pp. No half-title called for in Volume III. Twenty-four engraved plates by George Cruikshank. Small piece (3/4 x 3/8 inch) torn away from upper corner of second plate in volume II, repaired tear to top margin of following pages (61/62; E7). Original (Smith primary binding; Carter binding variant B) reddish brown fine-diaper cloth, front and back covers stamped in blind with an arabesque design, spines ruled in blind and lettered in gilt, original pale yellow coated endpapers. Some light foxing to plates as usual, some light occasional marginal soiling. Spine ends and inner hinges of volume three expertly and almost invisibly repaired, spines very slightly faded but gilt still bright. Armorial bookplate of Adrian Hoffman Joline on front paste-downs (bookplate for volume two removed). Housed in a quarter brown morocco clamshell case. An excellent and very attractive set. For this novel, Dickens's first in the standard three-volume form, Bentley divided the printing task between two firms: Volume I was printed in a twelvemo format by Samuel Bentley; Volume II in octavo format by Whiting; and Volume III preliminaries and signatures A-F and probably G by Whiting with the remaining text by Samuel Bentley, again in twelvemo format. The three-decker publication date was 9 November 1839, and within a week, at Dickens's insistence, the title-pages were changed to include his name, and the "Church" version of the final plate was substituted for the "Fireside" version. Smith I, 4. Oliver Twist, is the second novel by Charles Dickens, and was first published as a serial 1837-39. The story is of the orphan Oliver Twist, who starts his life in a workhouse and is then sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. He escapes from there and travels to London, where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin. Oliver Twist is notable for its unromantic portrayal by Dickens of criminals and their sordid lives, as well as for exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century. "My dear child,' said the old gentleman, moved by the warmth of Oliver's sudden appeal, 'you need not be afraid of my deserting you, unless you give me cause.' I never, never will, sir,' interposed Oliver." In this early example of the social novel, Dickens satirizes the hypocrisies of his time, including child labor, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story A Memoir of of Robert Blincoe, (1832), an orphan whose account of working as a child laborer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own youthful experiences contributed as well. Oliver Twist has been the subject of numerous adaptations for various media, including a highly successful musical play, Oliver!, and the multiple Academy Award-winning 1968 motion picture which featured Mark Lester as Oliver, Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger, Ron Moody as Fagin and Oliver Reed as Bill Sykes. .

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Book number: 03743

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: CRUIKSHANK, George, illustrator Illustrated Books Nineteenth-Century Literature Cruikshankiana

DICKENS, Charles; DICKENS, Charles; SAMBLANX, binder

Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, the

London: Chapman and Hall, 1837. Charles Dickens Pickwick Papers in a Superb Art Nouveau Binding by Charles de Samblanx DICKENS, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. With Forty-Three Illustrations, by R. Seymour and Phiz. London: Chapman and Hall, 1837. First edition in book form. A tall early issue with the frontispiece and the vignette title-page in first state and the errata uncorrected. Octavo (8 11/16 x 5 3/8 inches; 221 x 137 mm.). [i-v], vi, [vii], viii-ix, [x-xi], xii-xiv, [xv] Directions to the binder, [xvi] errata, [1]-609, [610]. Forty-three inserted engraved plates by Phiz and Seymour, including the second state of most of the Seymour plates, the Phiz replacement plates for the Buss plates (with captions instead of page numbers below images), and mixed early states of the remaining Phiz plates, all prior to Phiz's major re-engravings, with the early page numbers instead of the later captions and imprints below the images, including simultaneous steels of the frontispiece and vignette title. The errata is uncorrected, however it has been corrected in ink in an early hand. The plate facing page 453 with a neatly repaired marginal tear not affecting image. A few plates with marginal browning but far cleaner than is usually seen. Elaborately bound ca. 1910 by Ch. De Samblanx (stamp-signed in gilt at foot of spine). Full navy blue calf, covers bordered in gilt and elaborately decorated in gilt and blind, smooth spine similarly decorated in gilt and blind and lettered in gilt, decorative gilt board edges and turn-ins, marbled end-papers, tope edge gilt, others uncut. A very fine and attractive binding. With the armorial bookplate of Robert & Jeanne Percheron on front blank leaf. Charles de Samblanx (1855-1943). The Belgian Belle Époque master, Ch. De Samblanx began his binding career at the age of eleven, as an apprentice to Coppens. He eventually established his own firm (though from 1889-1909 his gilder Jacques Weckesser, his cousin by marriage was in partnership with him). His binding career extended over several decades, and he worked in a variety of period styles, sensitively reproducing the bindings of past centuries. His work, often involving great complexity of design, is invariably executed with the highest degree of skill. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 05822

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: DICKENS, Charles SAMBLANX, binder Illustrated Books Fine Bindings Nineteenth-Century Literature

DOYLE, Arthur Conan; WOLLEN, William Barnes, illustrator

Adventures of Gerard

London: George Newnes, Limited, [1903]. Tales of a Napoleonic Soldier DOYLE, A[rthur] Conan. Adventures of Gerard. London: George Newnes, [n.d. 1903]. First English edition. Octavo (7 5/16 x 4 7/8 inches; 166 x 124 mm.). vii, [3], 374 pp. Sixteen tipped-in plates by William Barnes Wollen. Publisher's dark blue cloth decoratively stamped (with a fleur-de-lis design) and lettered in gilt on front cover and spine, white endpapers. Some light foxing, mostly to edges. Minimal marginal foxing, neat early ink signature on front flyleaf, minimal rubbing to extremities. Otherwise a near fine and bright copy. 10,000 copies were published on 22nd September 1903 priced 6/-. Eight additional tales of Etienne Gerard, a cavalry officer in Napoleon's army, a sequel to The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard (1896). "The author was very fond of these stories, which he found easy to write. He felt that they were accurate as a portrayal of the French soldiers of the period even down to the smallest details of the costumes and of the historical background" (Green and Gibson, p. 93, note to The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard). Green and Gibson A27a; Wolff 1897. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 04998

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: WOLLEN, William Barnes, illustrator Literature Naval and Military

DOYLE, Arthur Conan

Land of Mist, the

London: Hutchinson & Co. Ltd. 1926. Another Professor Challenger Story.. DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Land of Mist. London: Hutchinson & Co. Ltd. [1926]. First English edition. Octavo. [i]-viii, 9-294, [295, advertisement], [1, blank], [-296 ad], [24, Hutchinson catalog for Spring of 1926] pp. Publisher's dark green cloth, front cover bordered and lettered in light green, spine lettered in light green, white endpapers. Top and bottom of spine, and lower joint worn. A good copy. This book was originally to be titled The Psychic Adventures of Edward Malone. Doyle wrote to the editor of the Strand Magazine on 23rd October 1924 to tell him about his latest book: "I have for years had a big psychic novel in me which shall deal realistically with every phase of the question, pro and con. I waited, I knew it would come. Now it has come, with a full head of steam, and I can hardly hold onto my pen it goes so fast - about 12 or 15,000 words in three days." Malone, as an inquiring newspaper man, and [Professor] Challenger as an outside sceptic are two of the main characters but every type will be drawn. I don't think it has ever been done by anyone who had the subject thoroughly at his fingers' ends before." "The book can be grouped with the other semi-autobiographical novel The Stark Munro Letters. It gives a detailed picture of the author's later years as a spiritualist, as the earlier one does of his years as a doctor. The characters and events in the book are drawn from life" (Green and Gibson). Approximately 3,000 copies were published on 19th March 1925 priced 7/6. Green and Gibson A45. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 05015

Catalogue: English Literature

DOYLE, Arthur Conan; WYETH, N.C. illustrator; ROUNTREE, Harry, illustrator

Last Galley, the

London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1911. From Historical Romance to Swashbuckling Pirate Adventure.. DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Last Galley. Impressions and Tales by Arthur Conan Doyle. With Illustrations. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1911. First English edition. Octavo (7 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches; 190 x 124 mm.). [viii], [1-3]-298, [299-312, publisher's catalog] pp. With a frontispiece by N.C. Wyeth and one plate by Harry Rountree. Publisher's dark red cloth, front cover blocked and titled in gilt, spine lettered in gilt, white endpapers. With a neat early ink inscription dated 1911 on front pastedown. Some very light, mainly marginal foxing to first few leaves only. Minimal rubbing to extremities, an excellent copy. 6,000 copies were published on 26th April 1911 priced 6/-. The Last Galley is a short story written by Arthur Conan Doyle that was first published in The London Magazine in November 1910 and then in the 1911 collection of short stories, The Last Galley; Impressions And Tales". This fantastic collection includes stories spanning a multitude of genres. From historical romance to swashbuckling pirate adventure, this volume has got it all, and will appeal to a wide range of readers. Between 1910 and 1922, N.C. Wyeth did nineteen illustrations for Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction novels - The White Company (1922) having thirteen of them. Green & Gibson A35a. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 04996

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: WYETH, N.C. illustrator ROUNTREE, Harry, illustrator Illustrated Books

DOYLE, Arthur Conan

Mystery of Cloomber, the

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1914. Inscribed by Arthur Conan Doyle Purchased from The Daily Telegraph Belgium Fund in 1914 DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Mystery of Cloomber. London: Hodder & Soughton's Sevenpenny Library, [ca. 1914]. Inscribed in ink on title-page "With homage to Belgium / Arthur Conan Doyle" Small octavo (6 3/8 x 4 1/4 inches; 162 x 108 mm.). [i-iv], v-vi, 7- 259, [1, blank] pp. [3 pp, advertisements on rear endpapers]. Including colored frontispiece and title-page printed on glossy paper. Publishers embossed salmon cloth, spine lettered in gilt. A near fine copy. Loosely inserted in a glassine envelope is a newspaper clipping (ca. 1914) titled "Is the friend as to whom you are in doubt regarding what you should give for a Christmas present a book-lover? Then go to the offices of Canada's Grand Trunk Railway system, 19 Cockspur-street, S.W. There you will be able to choose for him a volume by one of his favourite writers, autographed by the author, and, if you are lucky, with a special inscription in addition. It is a wonderful collection which Miss Elizabeth Banks has got together, and is offering for sale on behalf of The Daily Telegraph Fund. Famous writes, British and American, have sent copies of their works, with their signatures on the title-page.. Some Inscriptions. Sir. A. Conan Doyle: "With homage to Belgium." The Mystery of Cloomber is the second novel (preceded only by A Study in Scarlet) by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is narrated by John Fothergill West, a Scot who has moved with his family from Edinburgh to Wigtownshire to care for the estate of his father's half brother, William Farintosh. It was first published in 1888 in the Pall Mall Gazette. Imperial Germany's forces spilled over the Belgian frontier on 4 August 1914. Though only the tenth the size of the German army Belgian forces held up the offensive for almost a month giving France and Britain the time to prepare. In an article published in Tuesday's edition of The Daily Telegraph Sarah Rainey reports on King Albert's Book, the idea of Edwardian novelist Hall Caine. It brought princes, statesmen, authors, artists, composers and religious leaders to present their reaction to the invasion of Belgium. Money raised from its sales went to The Daily Telegraph Belgium Fund. Green & Gibson A2 (later edition). .

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Book number: 04982

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: Inscribed Copies Mystery and Detective Fiction Nineteenth-Century Literature Signed Copies

DOYLE, Arthur Conan; ROUNTREE, Harry, illustrator

Poison Belt, the

London: Hodder and Stoughton, [1913]. Humanity is Shocked into Placing a Higher Value on Life" DOYLE, Arthur Conan. The Poison Belt. Being an account of another adventure of Prof. George E. Challenger, Lord John Roxton, Prof. Summerlee, and Mr. E.D. Malone, the discoverers of "The Lost World". With 16 Illustrations by Harry Rountree. London: Hodder and Stoughton, [1913]. First English edition. Octavo (7 3/8 x 4 7/8 inches; 188 x 124 mm.). [viii], [1-2]-199, [1, blank] pp. Frontispiece and fifteen plates tipped-in. Publisher's light blue cloth front cover blocked and titled in black, spine blocked in black and lettered in gilt, white endpapers, all edges untrimmed. Lower joint with small 1 1/2 inch split, spine slightly faded, corners and spine extremities a little rubbed. Still a much better than usually seen copy. 10,000 copies were published on 13th August 1913 priced 3/6d. The Poison Belt is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, the second book about Professor Challenger. Written in 1913, much of it takes place in a single room in Challenger's house in Sussex. This would be the last story written about Challenger until the 1920s, by which time Doyle's spiritualist beliefs had begun to influence his writing. Challenger sends telegrams asking his three companions from The Lost World— Edward Malone, Lord John Roxton, and Professor Summerlee— to join him at his home outside London, and instructs each of them to 'bring oxygen'. During their journey there, they see people's behaviour become excitable and erratic. On arrival they are ushered into a sealed room, along with Challenger and his wife. In the course of his researches into various phenomena, Challenger has predicted that the Earth is moving into a belt of poisonous ether which, based on its effect on the people of Sumatra earlier in the day, he expects to stifle humanity. Challenger seals them in the room with cylinders of oxygen, which he (correctly) believes will counter the effect of the ether. The five wait out the Earth's passage through the poison belt as they watch the world outside, human and animal, die and machines run amok. (According to Victorian values—or to Doyle's understanding of them—Challenger's servants are left outside the sealed room, and they continue to perform their duties until the ether overtakes them.) Finally, the last of the oxygen cylinders is emptied, and they open a window, ready to face death. To their surprise, they do not die, and conclude the Earth has now passed through the poison belt. They journey through the dead countryside in Challenger's car, finally arriving in London. They encounter only one survivor, an elderly, bed-ridden woman prescribed oxygen for her health. After returning to Challenger's house, they discover that the effect of the ether is temporary, and the world reawakens with no knowledge that they have lost any time at all. Eventually Challenger and his companions manage to convince the world what happened— a task made easier by the tremendous amount of death and destruction caused by runaway machines and fires that took place while the world was asleep—and humanity is shocked into placing a higher value on life. (Wikipedia). Green & Gibson A38a. .

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Book number: 04995

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: ROUNTREE, Harry, illustrator Illustrated Books Science Fiction

DOYLE, Arthur Conan; PAGET, Sidney, illustrator

Return of Sherlock Holmes, the

London: George Newnes, 1905. ‘Holmes!' I cried. ‘Is it really you? Can it indeed be that you are alive? Is it possible that you succeeded in climbing out of that awful abyss?'" the Third Collection of Sherlock Holmes Stories DOYLE, A[rthur] Conan. The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Illustrated by Sidney Paget. London: George Newnes, Ltd. 1905. First English edition of the third collection of Sherlock Holmes stories (preceded by the first American edition by about one month). Small octavo (7 3/8 x 4 13/16 inches; 187 x 122 mm.). [8], 403, [1, printer's imprint], [4, publisher's advertisements] pp. Sixteen plates (including frontispiece). Some occasional light, mainly marginal foxing, otherwise near fine. Publisher's dark blue cloth lettered in gilt on front cover and spine. Early ink signature "Mary V.B.M." and bookplate of Barry Cross of Bishop's Waltham (UK) on front free endpaper. An excellent copy, with the gilt much brighter than is usually seen. "The author was persuaded to revive Sherlock Holmes by the generous offers made by the proprietors of the American magazine..Having decided to write a new series, the author took care to preserve the integrity of his fictional character. ‘I would not write a Holmes story without a worthy plot, without a problem which interested my own mind, for that is a requisite before you can interest any one else.' The main problem was the plot..The plots did come and thirteen stories were written, among them some of the most interesting in the whole series" (Green and Gibson, pp. 140-141). The thirteen stories are: "The Adventure of the Empty House," "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder," "The Adventure of the Dancing Men," "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist," "The Adventure of the Priory School," "The Adventure of Black Peter," "The Adventure of Charles August Milverton," "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons," "The Adventure of the Three Students," "The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez," "The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter," "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange," and "The Adventure of the Second Stain." Green and Gibson A29a. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 04984

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: PAGET, Sidney, illustrator English Literature Modern Firsts Illustrated Books Mystery and Detective Fiction Illustrated Books Modern Firsts Literature Mystery and Detective Fiction

DOYLE, Arthur Conan; PAGET, Sidney, illustrator

Rodney Stone

London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1896. Arthur Conan Doyle's Boxing Novel, "Rodney Stone," with Eight Plates by Sidney Paget DOYLE, A[rthur] Conan. [PAGET, Sidney, illustrator]. Rodney Stone. With Illustrations. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1896. First English edition. Octavo (7 9/16 x 5 inches; 192 x 127 mm. ). [8], 366, [10, publisher's advertisements] pp. Eight plates by Sidney Paget (including frontispiece, with tissue guard). Publisher's black diamond-grain cloth decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt on front cover and spine. Dark brown coated endpapers. Front joint neatly repaired, otherwise a very good copy. 20,000 copies were published on 13th November 1896 priced 6/-. "‘They say that every form of knowledge comes useful [sic] sooner or later. Certainly my own experience in boxing and my very large acquaintance with the history of the prize-ring found their scope when I wrote ‘Rodney Stone.' No one but a fighting man would ever, I think, quite understand or appreciate some of the detail.'—Memories and Adventures (p. 273). "The author's knowledge and experience of boxing went back to his youth. In September 1894 he decided to use it in a ‘boxing play' which he hoped to write in conjunction with his brother-in-law, E.W. Hornung..He also envisioned a novel..During the summer of 1895 while at Upper Engadine and Caux he began the novel, having put the play aside, and it was finished in September..The book was very successful financially..The subject of boxing in the Regency period had already been touched on in ‘The Brigadier in England', and there are many subsequent stories. ‘An Impression of the Regency' is the one of most interest in connection with this book. It was the preliminary sketch which the author wrote to get the feel of the period, and although not intended for publication, it was published later. "The author believed that he was a pioneer, the first to get the ‘focus of the Regency as the subject of Romance'. He believed that his book was an important element in the surge of interest in the sport after the turn of the century and especially during the 1920, a belief supported by the number of newspapers and magazines which reprinted the story. The author placed Rodney Stone as the first volume of the Crowborough Edition, implying that he rated it, at least at the end of his life, on a par with The White Company" (Green and Gibson, pp. 97-98). Rodney Stone was serialized in The Strand Magazine, January-December 1896, with illustrations by Sidney Paget. Green and Gibson A20a. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 05008

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: PAGET, Sidney, illustrator Boxing Nineteenth-Century Literature Illustrated Books English Literature Illustrated Books Nineteenth-Century Literature Sports

DOYLE, Arthur Conan; Paget, Sidney

Rodney Stone

London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1896. Arthur Conan Doyle's Boxing Novel, "Rodney Stone," with Eight Plates by Sidney Paget DOYLE, A[rthur] Conan. Rodney Stone. With Illustrations. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1896. First edition. Octavo (7 9/16 x 5 inches; 192 x 127 mm. ). [8], 366, [12, publisher's advertisements] pp. Eight plates by Sidney Paget (including frontispiece, with tissue guard). Original black diamond-grain cloth decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt on front cover and spine. Dark brown coated endpapers. Hinges a bit cracked yet firm. Otherwise a near fine copy. Chemised in a quarter olive green morocco slipcase. "‘They say that every form of knowledge comes useful [sic] sooner or later. Certainly my own experience in boxing and my very large acquaintance with the history of the prize-ring found their scope when I wrote ‘Rodney Stone.' No one but a fighting man would ever, I think, quite understand or appreciate some of the detail.'—Memories and Adventures (p. 273). "The author's knowledge and experience of boxing went back to his youth. In September 1894 he decided to use it in a ‘boxing play' which he hoped to write in conjunction with his brother-in-law, E.W. Hornung..He also envisioned a novel..During the summer of 1895 while at Upper Engadine and Caux he began the novel, having put the play aside, and it was finished in September..The book was very successful financially..The subject of boxing in the Regency period had already been touched on in ‘The Brigadier in England', and there are many subsequent stories. ‘An Impression of the Regency' is the one of most interest in connection with this book. It was the preliminary sketch which the author wrote to get the feel of the period, and although not intended for publication, it was published later. "The author believed that he was a pioneer, the first to get the ‘focus of the Regency as the subject of Romance'. He believed that his book was an important element in the surge of interest in the sport after the turn of the century and especially during the 1920, a belief supported by the number of newspapers and magazines which reprinted the story. The author placed Rodney Stone as the first volume of the Crowborough Edition, implying that he rated it, at least at the end of his life, on a par with The White Company" (Green and Gibson, pp. 97-98). Rodney Stone was serialized in The Strand Magazine, January-December 1896, with illustrations by Sidney Paget. Green and Gibson A20a. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 00834

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: Paget, Sidney Boxing Nineteenth-Century Literature Illustrated Books English Literature Illustrated Books Literature Nineteenth-Century Literature Sports

DOYLE, Arthur Conan; CASTAIGNE, A, illustrator

Round the Fire Stories

London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1908. A Collection of Short Stories to be Read Round the Fire on a Winter's Night "Concerned with the Grotesque and with the Terrible" DOYLE, Arthur Conan. Round the Fire Stories. With a frontispiece by A. Castaigne. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1908. First English edition. Octavo (7 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches; 191 x 124 mm.). [viii], [1]-372, [373-376, publisher's catalog] pp. With a tipped-in frontispiece by A. Castaigne. Publisher's dark red cloth, front cover blocked and titled in gilt, spine lettered in gilt, white endpapers, lower edges uncut. Minimal darkening to spine, a few slight marginal smudges, otherwise near fine. 6,000 copies were published on 24th September 1908 priced 6/-. "In a previous volume, "The Green Flag," I have assembled a number of my stories which deal with warfare or with sport. In the present collection those have been brought together which are concerned with the grotesque and with the terrible - such tales as might well be read "round the fire" upon a winter's night. This would be my ideal atmosphere for such stories, if an author might choose his time and place as an artist does the light and hanging of his picture. However, if they have the good fortune to give pleasure to any one, at any time or place, their author will be very satisfied." (Preface). Green & Gibson A33a. .

David Brass Rare Books (ABAA/ILAB)Professional seller

Book number: 04997

Catalogue: English Literature

Keywords: CASTAIGNE, A, illustrator Horror