The Man in Evening Clothes. by SCOTT (John Reed) - 1917

By John Reed Scott, Author of “The Cab of the Sleeping Horse,” “The Colonel Of the Red Huzzars,” “The Unforgiving Offender,” “The Duke of Oblivion,” etc. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York and London, The Nickerbocker Press, 1917. Half-title not called for; binder’s blank and integral advertisement leaf printed on verso precede full-colour frontispiece after E.L. Crompton, bound in, with tissue guard; 4pp. integral advertisements at end; pp.[2]+[vi]+387+[i (blank)]+[4]; pinkish red rough buckram ruled and lettered gilt on front cover and spine. Very nice copy. A scarce late title, and apparently the author’s last book, the novel begins as though it is to be a humorous spoof crime story: but that is actually no more than characterisation of the narrator, the younger son of an English lord, with a diplomatic position in Washington, a fascination with gemstones, and not enough money to support his lifestyle. He takes to crime, but much of the novel is concerned with another, much more ambitious jewel-thief with whom he becomes unwillingly involved and whom he eventually helps to track down. The book ends on a note of romance. Hubin, p.367; COPAC records copies at the British Library, Oxford, and the National Library of Wales only. All books listed by Robert Temple are first editions unless otherwise stated.