Lot 302

Binns, Ottwell [pseudonym: 'Ben Bolt']

Collection of mystery novels

£530

Books & Manuscripts

Auction: 05 February 2025 from 10:00 GMT

Description

London: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1924-37. Apparently first editions unless otherwise stated, 8vo, original varicoloured cloth, in the dust jackets, titles comprise:
Clancy of the Mounted Police, 1924, dust jacket reinforced on verso and with loss to foot of spine;
The Secret Pearls, 1930;
The Flaming Crescent, 1931, label of Dryborough Circulating Library to front pastedown, dust jacket chipped;
Trader Random, 1932;
The Last Door, 1935, spine rolled;
A Shot in the Woods, 1938, later issue (dust jacket numbered ‘828A’ at foot of spine and rear panel mentioning the author's A Man of Dartmoor, first published 1939).
[As ‘Ben Bolt’]:
The Badge, 1930, loss to front panel of dust jacket;
Linked by Peril, 1936, possible later issue (dust jacket numbered 882 at foot of spine, price-clipped);
By Breathless Ways, 1937, later issue (dust jacket numbered ‘816A' at foot of spine and rear panel mentioning The Girl in the Train, first published 1939);
The Diamond-Buckled Shoe, 1930, later edition (first published 1921 by Heath Robinson);
The Pride of the Ring, no date, later edition (first published 1921 by Heath Robinson);
A Shot in the Night, 1934, possible later issue (dust jacket numbered ‘565' on spine, price-clipped);
The Sealed Envelope, no date, later edition, c.1935 (first published 1931; dust jacket mentioning The Unseen Witness, first published 1935; price-clipped);
The Empty House Mystery, 1936, possible later issue (dust jacket numbered ‘724’ on spine, price-clipped;
The Green Lantern, 1935, possible later issue (dust jacket numbered ‘665’ on spine, price-clipped), front free endpaper excised
[see Hubin, Crime Fiction II, 1994, volume 1 p. 72];
together with 4 novels by Binns's son Max Dalman, in dust jackets (19)

Provenance

The Golden Age of Detective and Adventure Fiction: Selections from the Stock of Obelist Books, Glasgow.

Footnote

Ottwell Binns (1872-1935) was a novelist and Unitarian minister from Rochdale, Lancashire.