Modern Literature (Mysteries) from Quercus Rare Books

Chicago: Ziff-Davis Company, 1948. This is the last book written by Richard Burke (1886-1962), featuring his series character Quinny Hite [who appeared in five of the ten novels Burke wrote]. This is a Very Good copy of the First Edition. No publication date, but 1948. [Hubin, 58.] Turquoise blue cloth binding with titling in red on the spine. Clean text;… Read more about this item

New York, Haggerstopwn, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1978. The second book by this mysterious author, originally perceived to be of the male persuasion, featuring an intimidating Israeli millionaire/intelligence operative. A Very Good (Plus) copy of the First Edition [stated]. An uncommon title. Light blue-green paper-covered boards with a purple cloth spine titled in silver. Clean text; 179… Read more about this item

New York, Haggerstopwn, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1976. The second book by this mysterious author, originally perceived to be of the male persuasion, featuring an intimidating Israeli millionaire/intelligence operative. A Very Good (Plus) copy of the First Edition [stated]. An uncommon title. Orange paper-covered boards with an orange cloth spine; titling in white on the spine. Clean… Read more about this item

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1938. Kay Boyle (1902-1992) writes here a modernist mystery, certainly an oddity in mystery fiction. that seems like a precursor to Sam Beckett's "Godot." A naive medical student arrives in Paris and hooks up with a drunken writer; they wander about in search of a mysterious forensic doctor. This is a Very Good copy… Read more about this item

London: John Murray, 1925. This is a Very Good copy of the the first printing of Murray's "Thin Paper Editions" [stated "This Edition on Thin Paperfirst issued...1925"]. Not common. Red cloth binding, ruled and with "ACD" in gilt on the front cover; titling and decorations on the spine in black. Clean text; 285 pages; with a four-page publisher's catalog in… Read more about this item

Garden City/New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1936. An omnibus from the Crime Club "In which Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Wills Crofts, Father Ronald Knox, Dorothy L. Sayers, Russell Thorndike Commit the Crime of Murder Which Ex-Superintendent Cornish, C.I.D. Is Called Upon to Solve." This is a Very Good copy of the First Edition [stated]. A scarce… Read more about this item

New York & London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1940. Published in England as "The Opera House Murders" [Hubin, p. 33]. This is a Very Good (Minus) copy of the First Edition [stated], an uncommon title. Dark blue cloth binding with titling in red on the spine and front cover. Clean text; 323 pages.Endpapers spotted and a front flap (with the… Read more about this item

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1948. Elisabeth Kyle [pseudonym of Agnes Mary Robertson Dunlop, 1901-1982] was a prolific Scottish journalist and novelist. This is a Near Fine copy of the First American Edition. [Hubin, 243] A surprisingly scarce title, considering her popularity. Turquoise cloth binding with titling in black on the spine; illustration of a young girl peering over a… Read more about this item

New York: R.F. Fenno & Company, 1906. First published in 1900. This is a Very Good copy of a Later Printing in an attractive decorative binding. Yellow cloth boards, decoratively stamped in red and green; titling on spine and front cover in black. Although the date of 1900 appears as the copyright, Fenno was not the original publisher, and the… Read more about this item

Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1926. This is one of the two mysteries written by Converse (1871-1967) [Hubin, 92], a Very Good copy of the First Edition [stated "Published September, 1926"].. Not a common book. Black cloth binding with titling in green on the spine and front cover. Clean text; 232 pages; green topstain. Interestingly, there is a small sticker… Read more about this item

New York: Lilian Barber Press, Inc., 1989. An interesting work of criticism, a descriptive bibliography, combined with the erudite essays. The List of books cited contains plot summaries. A surprisingly uncommon title. This is a Fine copy of the First Edition. Indian red cloth binding with titling in gilt on the spine. Clean text; 226 pages. Indexed. The dustjacket is… Read more about this item

London: T. Werner Ltd., 1948. Maurice Dekobra [pseudonym of Ernest Maurice Tessier, 1885-1973] was one of the world's best-selling authors between the World Wars; his works are strangely uncommon today. First published in English in 1929; this is a Fine copy of the Third Impression [stated]. Bright orange cloth binding with titling in black on the spine and front cover.… Read more about this item

London, New York, Melbourne, Sydney, Cape Town: Rich & Cowan for The Crime Book Society, 1947. The well-regarded and popular Simon Winchester [Pseudonym for Heny St. John Claire Gibbs, 1909-1975] is strangely uncommon today. This is a Near Fine copy of the First Edition. No publication date; Hubin, p. 195. Green paper-covered boards with titling in black on the spine.… Read more about this item

New York: Lincold MacVeagh//The Dial Press, 1928. First published by Longmans in 1906, Lord Charnwood's only mystery was rediscovered when it was reprinted in this edition from 1928. [Hubin, p.31]. A Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone. This is a Very Good (Plus) to Near Fine copy of the "Author's Edition.". Quite a scarce title. Red cloth binding, blindstamped on the front cover; with… Read more about this item

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1936. This is the second omnibus edition issued by Harcourt, combining two of her novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey..Uncommon. Black cloth binding with titling in red on the spine and front cover. Clean text; 232 pages and 448 pages. The stories were first published in 1930 and 1932; this book has no publication date,… Read more about this item

New York: Jacobsen Publishing Company, Inc., 1931. Here is a bit of a bibliomystery. The author, "Robert Wallace" is the House Name for Regency Publishing given by Hubin [422]. However, this title does not appear in the list, and we have a different publisher. Quercus has had no luck in researching Jacobsen Publishing, other than to note that Jacobsen sued… Read more about this item

Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1936. Williams (1883-1946) was a journalist, war hero, spy, and scriptwriter in hollywood - also a writer of mystery-thrillers such as this. This is a Fine copy of the First American Edition [Hubin, 439]. Bright orange cloth binding with titling in black on the spine and front cover. Clean text; vi, 275 pages.… Read more about this item

New York and Evanston: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1959. A Lord Peter Wimsey novel first published in 1933, here reprinted.. Black cloth binding with titling in gilt on the spine. Clean text; 344 pages; decorative endpapers. Previous-owner bookplate on the front paste-down. Light rub and slight splay. The dustjacket is clipped, although the price remains. "good" only, due to several… Read more about this item

New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1935. First published in America by Dodd (1908), and regarded as Chesterton's best work. [Hubin, p.79] This is a Very Good copy of a Book Club Edition of uncertain date. Dodd renewed the copyright in 1935, but the book seems more recent than that. Green cloth binding, with titling in black on the spine… Read more about this item

Garden City: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1924. The third collaborative novel written by Conrad and Ford (in 1909). Considered to be mostly Ford's work, and not particularly well-received, it is listed in Hubin [p. 92]. This is a Very Good copy of the First American Edition.Decorative paper-covered boards in gold and green, with a black cloth spine; titling on green… Read more about this item