Spy and adventure novels
Collection of works in the dust jackets, 1920s-40s, many with exotic settings
£1,638
Auction: 05 February 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
all 8vo, original cloth, with the dust jackets, generally in good condition with a few nicks, chips and repairs to dust jackets, all apparently first editions unless otherwise stated, references to Hubin, Crime Fiction II (1994) in square brackets, titles include:
Mills, Arthur. The Blue Spider. London: W. Collins Sons & Co Ltd, 1929, dust jacket with small chip to head of front panel and tape-repairs verso [p. 575; a Far East adventure];
Idem. Intrigue Island. London: W. Collins Sons & Co Ltd, 1929, shallow loss to head of jacket spine, spotting to edges of textblock [p. 575; a Far East adventure];
McLaren, Christabel. The Divine Gift. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1929 [p. 535: the author's only novel listed];
‘Operator 1384’ [pseudonym of John Henry Harvey]. The Black Arab. London: Rich & Cowan Ltd, [1937], apparent reprint (rear panel of jacket lists title under ‘The Black-Line Library Reprints of Famous Books’, chips to jacket, ghosting to spine [p. 615];
Arnold, Ralph. The Pelican Strikes Back. London: Ivor Nicholson and Watson Limited, 1936, spine discoloured and rolled, dust jacket with residue to spine panel possibly from removal of overprice sticker and with chip to head of rear panel [p. 31];
George, Vernon [pseudonym of George Shirra Gibb Vernon]. Hamish Munro's Experiment. A Thrilling Romance of the East and the Antipodes. London: Arthur H. Stockwell, Ltd., [1935], presentation copy, inscribed ‘R. Meff Esqr, with the author’s compliments Georg. S. G. Vernon, 9/5/35' on the front free endpaper, jacket repaired, light mottling and fading to cloth [p. 321];
Helburne, Roger G. Chase Across Europe. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1941, dust jacket price-clipped;
Allan, Luke [pseudonym of W. Lacey Amy]. Five for One. Bristol: Arrowsmith, 1934, dust jacket price-clipped and with small tape-repair, spotting to outer leaves and edges and flaps of jacket [p. 10];
Mitton, G[eraldine] E[dith]. The Two-Stringed Fiddle. London: John Murray, 1919, inscribed ‘G. E. Scott (Lady Scott) who wrote this book’ on front free endpaper, label removed from front cover [Burmese setting];
Knight, L[eonard] A[lfred]. Redbeard. London: Sampson Low, Marston, & Co., Ltd., [1935], gift inscription dated 1940 to front pastedown, apparent removal of overprice label from jacket spine [p. 475];
Marle, T. B. Candid Escort. London: Arthur Barker Limited, 1936, spine rolled, dust jacket price-clipped [Balkan setting];
Jepson, Edgar. A Prince in Petrograd. London: Odhams Press Limited, [1921], old repairs to dust jacket.
together with 16 others similar, all in dust jackets (28)
Provenance
The Golden Age of Detective and Adventure Fiction: Selections from the Stock of Obelist Books, Glasgow.