Heldmann Richard Bernard (28 results)

Octavo, cloth. First edition. Limited to 500 copies plus a few extras for legal deposit purposes. Collects eighteen stories with introduction by editor Richard Dalby. A fine copy in fine dust jacket. (#130848).

8vo, pp. 126. Half-bound marble boards, half-title bound in, original front wrapper pasted to front pastedown. Printed in double columns. Spine label. Contents browned, portion of (later) spine label missing, but a well preserved copy. Rebound popular edition. First published by Methuen in 1902. The prolific 'Richard Marsh'/Richard Heldmann [1857-1915] wrote in a wide variety of genres, but is now best remembered for his weird and supernatural fiction -- he was the author of The Beetle (1897), a best-seller published the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula. His grandson was the modern master of weird fiction, Robert Aickman. The Twickenham Peerage is one of Marsh's more conventional tales: an impoverished aristocrat needs money to enable him to marry. Scarce in this cheap and flimsily made edition.

A clean,tight ,sound copy of the First Edition in original publishers cloth,lettered in white to the front board but with spine lettering erased original black coated endpapers, Crown 8vo.vi.317pps.+2pp advert leaf. Tissue guarded frontispiece and one other plate by Harold Copping. Neat inscription to half title dated Xmas 1903 Heldmanns writing career, encouraged by G.A.Henty came to an abrupt end in 1883 when he was sucessfully charged and prosecuted for forgery. He re-emerged as Richard Marsh and famously went on to write "The Beetle" and many other novels & short stories. [See Minna Vuohelainen's VFR Guide No35].

Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-336 + undated 12-page publisher's catalogue inserted at rear, title page printed in orange and black, original pictorial green cloth, front panel stamped in red, black, white and gold, spine panel stamped in black and gold, top edge plain, other edges untrimmed. First edition, first printing, U.S. issue with cancel title leaf. A collection of short fiction, at least half of which are crime stories. Hubin (1994), p. 554. Lending library label affixed to front paste-down and library stamp on the title page. Spine ends and corner tips lightly worn, spine ends soft, small stains at upper edge of rear cover, a sound, good copy. The first printing is uncommon. (#172400).

Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-336 + undated 16-page publisher's catalogue inserted at rear, title page printed in orange and black, original pictorial green cloth, front panel stamped in red, black, white and gold, spine panel stamped in black and gold, t.e.g., other edges untrimmed. First edition, first printing. A collection of short fiction, at least half of which are crime stories. Hubin (1994), p. 554. Cloth worn at spine ends and corner tips, spine panel darkened, cloth spotted, tanned, and dust soiled, hairline crack along inner rear hinge, still a sound, good copy. The first printing is uncommon. (#156901).

Large 16mo, original pictorial wrappers, side stapled. First U.S. edition. "The Adventure Library," number 104. A mystery novel first published in England (by Ward, Lock) in 1897 as THE MYSTERY OF PHILIP BENNION'S DEATH. Besides a good deal of weird atmosphere, the story also contains a small whiff of genuine magic that is, however, essential to the plot. With its notion of murder-as-a-fine-art, the novel summons up a fin-de-siécle mood of decadence that strays from the author's more usual Victorian manner. Hubin, p. 554. Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978) or Reginald (1979; 1992) or Day, Supplemental Checklist of Fantastic Literature. The bottom corner of the rear cover is folded and improperly trimmed (the paper is present but overhangs the margins of the book). Dust soiling to covers, negligible chipping to spine ends, a very good copy of an uncommon book. The pulpy paper is browned but quite supple and in no danger of chipping. (#145524).

An undated early 1900's "Cheap" Reprint. 8vo.(7"x5") 314 pps. red blind stamped bds. (Click on illustration) Inscription to paste down dated 1944 no endpapers as issued final leaf of text forming the paste down. A clean sound copy of a scarce title. (This edn not listed in COPAC.).

Octavo, pp. [i-iv] v-vi [7-8] 9-382, original decorated purple cloth, front panel stamped in black and ruled in blind, spine panel stamped in black. First edition, U.S. issue with cancel title leaf with "Brentano's" imprint on verso, binding with imprint "T. FISHER UNWIN" at base of spine panel. Marsh's posthumously published penultimate novel. Hubin (1994), p. 554. Slight spine lean, spine panel sunned (nearly inevitable with this purple cloth), a clean, tight, very good copy. An uncommon book. (#95407).

James Nisbet & Co London nd c 1893. Illustrated cloth, illistrated, 238pp + publ catalogue. School presentation inscription, light foxing o/w a good copy. Australian Tax on Low Value Imported Goods (LVIG) exempt.

Octavo, pp. [i-vi] vii-viii [1] 2-394 [395: printer's imprint] [396: blank] [first leaf is a blank] + 40-page publisher's catalogue dated "February 1903" inserted at rear, original red cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, bottom edge untrimmed. First edition. Borderline supernatural novel. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 354. Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978) or Reginald (1979; 1992). Hubin (1994), p. 554. Cloth lightly worn at upper spine end, spine panel a bit darkened, front free endpaper missing, a good copy. A scarce book seldom found in nice condition. (#171060).

Octavo, pp. [i-iv] v [vi] vii [viii] [1] 2-316 + 8-page and 32-page publisher's catalogues dated "Spring 1914" and "27/1/14" respectively inserted at rear, original red cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, bottom edge untrimmed. First edition. Mixed collection of eleven stories including several mysteries and at least one fantasy, "The Touchstone of Fortune," a long story about converting matter, including people, into gold. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 151. Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978) or Reginald (1979; 1992). Not in Wilson. Hubin (1994), p. 554. Some patchy fading around edges of front and rear covers, more so to the latter, spine panel a bit sunned, a very good copy. Scarce. (#130382).

First edition. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-336 + undated 16-page publisher's catalogue inserted at rear, title page printed in orange and black, original pictorial green cloth, front panel stamped in red, black, white and gold, spine panel stamped in black and gold, t.e.g., other edges untrimmed. A collection of short fiction, at least half of which are crime stories. [Reference: Hubin (1994), p. 554]. Cloth edges rubbed and a bit darkened, spine cloth faded with gilt fairly bright and ends a bit worn, a good to very good copy. The first printing is uncommon. (27977).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Original red cloth hard covers, with gilt titles and borders to front and spine. The first edition. Moderate soiling, handling and shelf-wear to covers; edges toned. Mild foxing to endpapers; front hinge cracked at endpaper, but holding. Otherwise, clean, tight and unmarked. Very neat -- a sound and handsome copy. 303pp. Size: 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Book.

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. First edition. 8vo. Publisher's catalogue at end. Original blue cloth. The adventures of one of Marsh's most intriguing characters, Miss Judith Lee, a young teacher of deaf pupils whose lip-reading ability involves her with mysteries that she solves by acting as a detective. Spine a little dulled and rubbed, minor marking, overall a very good copy. The adventures of one of Marsh's most intriguing characters, Miss Judith Lee, a young teacher of deaf pupils whose lip-reading ability involves her with mysteries that she solves by acting as a detective. Book.

Ninth impression of the 1897 first edition. Publisher's original red cloth with an illustration of The Beetle in black and green and titles in black and gilt to the upper board, and titles in black and gilt to the spine. Illustrated with a tissue guarded frontispiece and three further full page black and white plates by John Williamson. Single page of publisher's adverts at the rear. A very good copy, the binding firm with rubbing and bumping to the extremities, the cloth with a few minor marks and some fading to the slightly rolled spine. The contents, with a previous owner's name in pencil, and a Christmas 1905 gift inscription in ink to the half title, are otherwise clean with just the odd finger mark or isolated foxing spot to the margins. An early supernatural mystery novel, first published in the same year as Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' and, like 'Dracula', developing a vein of gothic terror first popularised by Ann Radcliffe's 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' and later by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'. Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. First edition. 8vo. Publisher's catalogue at end dated March 1905. Original red cloth blocked in gilt. One of the obscurer titles by the author of The Beetle. Hubin-listed. Covers slightly mottled, otherwise a very good copy. One of the obscurer titles by the author of The Beetle. Hubin-listed. Book.

[Literary Magazine] FIRST APPEARANCES. Octavo (24 x 18cm), pp.iv; 802; viii. With frequent black and white, and occasional dichromatic, illustrations. Publisher's cyan cloth with gilt titles to spines and black titles and decoration to uppers, all edges speckled red, white endpapers. Contents clean, a few light reading marks, extremities rubbed, minor discolouration to spine. Very good. An important volume of the Strand Magazine, including this famous Sherlock Holmes short story, which did not appear in a book-form edition for a further four years (His Last Bow, 1917). Also contains excerpts from Captain Scott's diaries, which later appeared in full in 'Scott's Last Expedition' (1913), an early contribution from Wodehouse, and numerous short pieces by various authors.

Octavo, pp. [1-8] [1] 2-312 [note: first leaf is a blank] + 40-page publisher's catalogue dated "February 1900" inserted at rear, original pictorial salmon cloth, front and spine panels stamped in green, cream and black, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. First edition. Mixed collection of mystery and weird tales; several effective psychological horror stories including "The Mask," featuring a vampiric homicidal maniac, also "An Experiment" and "A Silent Witness," nightmarish tales of hypnotically induced haunting and catalepsy, respectively. Marsh's tales are shot through with a peculiarly vivid streak of cruelty, nowhere more so than in this collection, which underscores his relentless fatalism very effectively. ". there was a lot more to Marsh than THE BEETLE . Marsh is an unfairly neglected writer who will repay the effort of getting his books." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 283. Frost, The Monster with a Thousand Faces, p. 56. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 353. Bleiler (1978), p. 134. Not in Reginald (1979; 1992). Glover and Greene, Victorian Detective Fiction 333. Hubin (1994), p. 554. Spine lean, light wear to spine ends, small circular spot on front cover, corner tips bumped, endpapers tanned, a very good copy. A scarce book; Marsh's most elusive collection of short fiction. (#165345).

Condition: Very Good. First edition hard back binding in publisher's original illustrated burgundy cloth covered boards, blocked and lettered gilt back, cream, green and russet illustration to the front cover, publisher's device blind stamped to lower cover. 8vo. 8'' x 5¼''. Focuses on another series that first appeared in provincial local newspapers across England, including the Manchester Times, the Leeds Mercury, and the Newcastle Weekly Courant in the period 1895 to 1900. One of the novel's multiple narrators was the Honourable Augustus Champnell, whose detective adventures are examined here. A number of these detective stories starring Champnell were published both before and after Marsh's success with The Beetle, not only do these stories have a fascinating publication history, they also feature one of the first aristocratic private detectives in literary history, appearing some 20 years before Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, meaning that they offer intriguing explorations of the class dynamics of Victorian police-work and criminality. Contains tissue-guarded frontispiece, (vii), 310 pp + 16 pp ads. Oval indigo stamp to the first story from Newcastle-on-Tyne Police Library, finger marks to the text block edges and in Very Good bright condition. Extremely scarce. Member of the P.B.F.A. DETECTIVE | CRIME FICTION.

[Literary Magazine] LEATHER-BOUND FIRST APPEARANCES. Three volumes. Octavo (24 x 27cm), pp.[4] 804; pp.[4] 724; pp.[4] 804. With frequent black and white illustrations, including Paget's famous illustrations for the Holmes stories. Handsomely bound in brown half morocco, with raised bands, twin green title labels lettered in gilt, matching cloth over boards, t.e.g., other edges speckled. Contents a little toned as expected else clean, covers unmarked. Attractively presented in a recent leather binding. A significant collection, containing all thirteen parts of Doyle's 'The Return of Sherlock Holmes' and all twelve parts of Nesbit's 'The Phoenix and the Carpet.' Also featuring a selection of short pieces by Jacobs, Mason, Meade, Pemberton, Pain, Nesbit, Maugham, Marsh, and Morrison, and a vision of the tank from Wells more than ten years before it was deployed on the battlefields of France.

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. No jacket. Plates. (illustrator). First edition. First edition, first impression. 8vo. Original pictorial cloth. The first edition of Marsh's horror novel in which a shape-shifting ancient Egyptian entity exerts a hypnotic influence over his victims, leading to a series of strange and terrifying events in 1890s London. The novel unfolds through four narrators, each recounting their harrowing encounter with "the Beetle." The novel is often cited as a quintessential example of fin de siècle Gothic fiction, embodying the era's anxieties and. narrative innovations. Upon release, it was a sensation, and by 1913 it had gone through fifteen printings. Minor toning to margins; some rubbing and bumping to edges, cloth slightly softened at head of spine. Book.

Octavo, pp. [i-vii] viii 9-326 [327] [328: ad], inserted frontispiece with illustration by Oscar Wilson, publisher's bevel-edged green cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold and blind, publisher's monogram stamped in blind on rear panel. First edition. Collection of short fiction including criminous and weird tales. Includes one supernatural story, "The Haunted Chair." "A relic of the Borgias" is a sensational story of a poisoned ring which causes the death of a young woman in modern England. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 353. Hubin (1994), p. 553. Mild stain on front cover, endpapers foxed, else a bright, tight, internally clean, very good copy of a scarce book. (#178247).

Octavo, pp. [1-2: blank] [3-8] [1] 2-306 [307-308: blank] [note: blank leaf at rear (20-2) excised by the binder] + 48-page publisher's catalogue dated "April 1901" inserted at rear, publisher's pictorial green cloth, front and spine panels stamped in yellow, blue, purple and black, bottom edge rough trimmed. First edition. Mixed collection of eleven criminous, horror, and supernatural tales, including "George Ogden's Will," "Staunton's Dinner," "A Knight of the Road," "A Set of Chessmen," and "The Disappearance of Mrs. Macrecham." Bleiler, The Guide to the Supernatural Fiction 1117. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 353. Bleiler (1978), p. 134. Reginald 09697. Hubin (1994), p. 553. W. H. Smith & Sons Subscription Library label affixed to the front paste-down. Cloth lightly worn at spine ends and corner tips, a sound, good copy. A decent copy of a very elusive book. (#178235).

First Edition. [Supernatural thriller] First impression of this edition (second printings are identified as such on c.p.). Apparently the first edition printed in America following Mansfield's earlier edition using British sheets. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.viii; 338; [6], ads. Bound in publisher's dark blue cloth pictorially blocked in colours, edges trimmed. Contents clean but for small brown stain to gutter of prelims, ink name to endpaper, dated ink initials to top edge, covers clean and bright. Near fine. A fresh copy of an early supernatural mystery novel. One of the best selling novels of the late nineteenth century: The Beetle remained in print for over 60 years, effortlessly outselling its now far better known competition, a certain Dracula, printed the same year, being amongst them. Subsequent literary endeavours by people like Boothby and Rohmer clearly owe a lot to Marsh's really rather high calibre tale of evil oriental interlopers with insidious powers and sinister intentions. Rare in this condition.

Octavo, pp. [1-8] [1] 2-312 [note: first leaf is a blank] + 40-page publisher's catalogue dated "November 1899" inserted at rear, original pictorial salmon cloth, front and spine panels stamped in green, cream and black, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. First edition. Mixed collection of mystery and weird tales; several effective psychological horror stories including "The Mask," featuring a vampiric homicidal maniac, also "An Experiment" and "A Silent Witness," nightmarish tales of hypnotically induced haunting and catalepsy, respectively. Marsh's tales are shot through with a peculiarly vivid streak of cruelty, nowhere more so than in this collection, which underscores his relentless fatalism very effectively. ". there was a lot more to Marsh than THE BEETLE . Marsh is an unfairly neglected writer who will repay the effort of getting his books." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 283. Frost, The Monster with a Thousand Faces, p. 56. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 353. Bleiler (1978), p. 134. Not in Reginald (1979; 1992). Glover and Greene, Victorian Detective Fiction 333. Hubin (1994), p. 554. Spine lean, mild wear to cloth at spine ends, bruise toncloth at upper edge near outer rear joint and another at lower rear corner, some sunning to cloth, endpapers foxed, a tight, good copy. A scarce book; Marsh's most elusive collection of short fiction. (#170953).

Octavo, pp. [iii-iv] v-viii [1-2] 3-351 [352: reviews of THE BEETLE] [note: preliminaries complete despite gap in pagination], four inserted plates with illustrations by John Williamson, original pictorial maroon cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, black, and green, white endpapers with floral pattern printed in light green. First U.S. edition, first issue. The U.S. edition is made from sheets of the British edition, those of a later printing, most likely the fourth. This is an early copy of the U.S. issue with no later edition statement on the title page. The first two leaves of gathering "a" are excised (these pages being the half title and title leaves of the British edition) and the Mansfield title leaf is an insert. Page [352] of the first printing of the Skeffington edition is blank; page [352] of the Mansfield edition, headed "Opinions of the Press," quotes British reviews of THE BEETLE. Lurid, sensational novel of detection and macabre horror. "With the exception of DRACULA this was probably the most popular horror novel of the 1890s." - Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1111. ". considered an offbeat classic by Lovecraft and other commentators. Dorothy Scarborough calls it 'the most curdling example' of 'entomological supernaturalism.' The plot, which focuses on ancient Egypt, features a priestess of Isis who haunts the modern world in both human and beetle manifestations. In addition to terror, the novel offers humor, suspense, and memorable minor characters. Lovecraft ranks it on the same level as Stoker's DRACULA." - Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-162. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, pp. 126-27. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-141. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 151. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature, p. 78. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 283. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 134. Reginald 09696. Glover and Greene 327. Hubin (1994), p. 553. Private owner's bookplate affixed to front paste-down. Cloth lightly rubbed at spine ends, corner tips and along outer joints, mild damp stain at upper edge of rear cover, tiny hole in the front free endpaper, a very good copy with sound binding and clean interior. An excellent copy of a book seldom found in decent shape. (#158900).

First edition. Octavo, pp. [i-v] vi [7] 8-287 [288: blank] + eight-page publisher's catalogue dated "October 1898" inserted at rear, title page printed in orange and black, original pictorial dark gray cloth, front panel stamped in light gray, black, red and gold, spine panel stamped in gold, publisher's monogram stamped in blind on rear cover, all edges untrimmed. Linked series of seven tales featuring two curio hunters, mostly criminous encounters excepting the sixth episode, "The Adventure of Lady Wishaw's Hand," in which a malevolent medieval relic (the severed hand of an ancestor) continues to punish those family members who do not honor an ancestral feud. The first episode, "The Adventure of the Pipe," is a rationalized supernatural story about a "haunted" meerschaum pipe with a loathsome tentacled creature carved on the bowl that moves when the pipe is smoked. ". there was a lot more to Marsh than THE BEETLE . Marsh is an unfairly neglected writer who will repay the effort of getting his books." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 283. [Reference: Bleiler, The Guide to the Supernatural Fiction 1112. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 352. Hubin (1994), p. 553. Wolff 4563]. Front and rear hinges repaired, neat inked name and small bookseller label to front paste down, take paper tanned, light wear to corner tips and spine ends, rubs to outer spine joints, vertical crease to cloth of spine and some darkening of spine. A very good copy with a bright front cover. A respectable copy of an uncommon book. (24981).

First American Edition. First Printing. Octavo (19cm); red cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine and front cover; dustjacket; vi,311,[3]pp. Dust-soil to upper edge of textblock, else very Near Fine. In the pictorial dustjacket, priced $1.35 net at lower spine; lightly edgeworn, with a diagonal tear at upper spine panel, neatly mended on verso; Very Good+.Late novel by Marsh (1857-1915), English author of the best-selling novel The Beetle (1897), whose prodigious output of supernatural and crime fiction spanned the late 19th century until his death. First published by T. Fisher Unwin in 1914, in The Woman in the Car, Marsh "scatters blood generously - having doubtless argued that three corpses are just as easily drawn from the ink-bottle as one corpse. He makes no extra charge for quantity. Quality is provided, too for one corpse is shot, one is stabbed, and one is torn by a wild animal unfairly perplexing the police doctor. The last and most complicated corpse is driven furiously through the British night in a motor-car and deposited at the door of a London club. Then the story begins - when it is virtually finished; but, of course, the author, the police, and the readers have to disentangle the story together" (The Bookfellow: The Australasian Review and Journal of the Australasian Book Trade, Vol.4, No.4. 15 April, 1915). A scarce title in or out of dustjacket, and uncommonly well-preserved; OCLC notes a scant 6 holdings. Hubin, p.276.