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Sick Heart River -
John Buchan
1941 - Hodder Stoughton Limited, London - First Edition
A fine first edition of Buchan’s last book, published posthumously.
The review in the April 1941 edition of Punch sums it up nicely:-
‘"If thou hast a woe, tell it not to the weakling, tell it to thy saddle-bow, and ride singing forth." John Buchan took this Proverb of Alfred as text for his book Sick Heart River (Hodder and Stoughton, 8/3) which is as good a sermon to lift the downhearted as has ever been given in the form of a novel. When Sir Edward Leithen, a former British Attorney-General, received his notice of death from a specialist, "his memory sprawled over places he had seen" and he decided to go to Quebec to make his soul and to "die standing".
One journey led to another in quest of a famous French-Canadian who, in a mood of mental sickness, had suddenly left his wife and important office in New York; and was "wanted" by American people because of his genius over international affairs. The tale that follows of two white men, their half-breed guides and some "Hare Indians", their fight with and against Nature in a lonely place is soul-stirring in more than one way and makes as brave a book as the late Governor-General of Canada ever gave us.’
The fictional Sick Heart River is in the real region of the Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest Territories. It is in some of the most rugged terrain in Canada. The area was only just being mapped when Buchan, as Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir, passed nearby during his voyage down the Mackenzie River in the summer of 1937. Having heard much about the mysterious South Nahanni, Buchan was fascinated by it and wanted to go there, but did not make it before he died in February, 1940. [Galbraith, 2001]
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Price HK$ 3,500
1941 - Hodder Stoughton Limited, London - First Edition
A fine first edition of Buchan’s last book, published posthumously. The review in the April 1941 edition of Punch sums it up nicely:-
‘"If thou hast a woe, tell it not to the weakling, tell it to thy saddle-bow, and ride singing forth." John Buchan took this Proverb of Alfred as text for his book Sick Heart River (Hodder and Stoughton, 8/3) which is as good a sermon to lift the downhearted as has ever been given in the form of a novel. When Sir Edward Leithen, a former British Attorney-General, received his notice of death from a specialist, "his memory sprawled over places he had seen" and he decided to go to Quebec to make his soul and to "die standing".
One journey led to another in quest of a famous French-Canadian who, in a mood of mental sickness, had suddenly left his wife and important office in New York; and was "wanted" by American people because of his genius over international affairs. The tale that follows of two white men, their half-breed guides and some "Hare Indians", their fight with and against Nature in a lonely place is soul-stirring in more than one way and makes as brave a book as the late Governor-General of Canada ever gave us.’
The fictional Sick Heart River is in the real region of the Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest Territories. It is in some of the most rugged terrain in Canada. The area was only just being mapped when Buchan, as Governor-General Lord Tweedsmuir, passed nearby during his voyage down the Mackenzie River in the summer of 1937. Having heard much about the mysterious South Nahanni, Buchan was fascinated by it and wanted to go there, but did not make it before he died in February, 1940. [Galbraith, 2001]
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Price HK$ 3,500
Trouble A-Brewing. A Novel of Detection -
John Bude (Pseud. Ernest Carpenter Elmore)
1946 - Macdonald and Co.(Publishers) Ltd., London - First Edition
An exceptional example of this scarce first edition.
Featuring Chief Inspector Meredith who ‘proves himself more than a match for any murderer; even for one who first poisons his victim and then hides the body in a hogshead of beer’.
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Price HK$ 3,000
1946 - Macdonald and Co.(Publishers) Ltd., London - First Edition
An exceptional example of this scarce first edition.Featuring Chief Inspector Meredith who ‘proves himself more than a match for any murderer; even for one who first poisons his victim and then hides the body in a hogshead of beer’.
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Price HK$ 3,000
East of Mansion House -
Thomas Burke
1928 - Cassell and Company, London - First Edition
‘A London native, Burke knew the city intimately and brought it to life in essays, mood pieces, and short stories, most of which had a melodramatic atmosphere of crime.’ – Stenbrunner & Penzler.
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Price HK$ 1,200
1928 - Cassell and Company, London - First Edition
‘A London native, Burke knew the city intimately and brought it to life in essays, mood pieces, and short stories, most of which had a melodramatic atmosphere of crime.’ – Stenbrunner & Penzler.
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Price HK$ 1,200
Philo Gubb. Correspondence-School Detective -
Ellis Parker Butler
1918 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York - First Edition
A near fine first edition, in the original pictorial cloth, and illustrated with twenty full page black and white plates.
A small town good-natured wallpaper hanger, with a fascination for Sherlock Holmes, Philo Gubb’s office also contains a framed diploma from the Rising Sun Detective Agency’s Correspondence School.
Gubb commits a slight case of murder on the King’s English every time he talks, but manages to solve crimes despite his talent for interpreting clues incorrectly and his flair for sporting mail-order disguises that inevitably fail to mask his purposes. A precursor to Inspector Clouseau perhaps...
‘Detecktating is my aim and my profession.’
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Price HK$ 1,500
1918 - Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York - First Edition
A near fine first edition, in the original pictorial cloth, and illustrated with twenty full page black and white plates.A small town good-natured wallpaper hanger, with a fascination for Sherlock Holmes, Philo Gubb’s office also contains a framed diploma from the Rising Sun Detective Agency’s Correspondence School.
Gubb commits a slight case of murder on the King’s English every time he talks, but manages to solve crimes despite his talent for interpreting clues incorrectly and his flair for sporting mail-order disguises that inevitably fail to mask his purposes. A precursor to Inspector Clouseau perhaps...
‘Detecktating is my aim and my profession.’
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Price HK$ 1,500
The First Saint Omnibus. An Anthology of Saintly Adventures -
Leslie Charteris
1939 - Hodder & Stoughton Limited, London - First Edition of this Collection
A finely bound selection of thirteen short stories featuring 'The Robin Hood of Modern Crime'.
Simon Templar, ‘The Saint’, ‘is a rambunctious adventurer who believes in old-fashioned romantic ideals, alter-ego perhaps of his Singaporean born creator Leslie Charles Bowyer Yin Charteris. Templar is prepared to lay down his life for these ideals, using considerable wit and intelligence, the Saint has a preference for avenging innocent victims.
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Price HK$ 4,000
1939 - Hodder & Stoughton Limited, London - First Edition of this Collection
A finely bound selection of thirteen short stories featuring 'The Robin Hood of Modern Crime'.Simon Templar, ‘The Saint’, ‘is a rambunctious adventurer who believes in old-fashioned romantic ideals, alter-ego perhaps of his Singaporean born creator Leslie Charles Bowyer Yin Charteris. Templar is prepared to lay down his life for these ideals, using considerable wit and intelligence, the Saint has a preference for avenging innocent victims.
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Price HK$ 4,000
The Urgent Hangman - Inscribed to Dennis Wheatley -
Peter Cheyney
1938 - Collins, London - First Edition
Dennis Wheatley’s copy, inscribed by Peter Cheyney ‘To my good friend Dennis’ and dated ‘14. 6. 38’. With Wheatley’s illustrated bookplate.
A near fine copy of the first ‘Slim Callaghan’ novel, in fine and thus rare dust jacket.
Cheyney’s action-filled and action filled plots ran counter to the comfortable murder mysteries of the time, and Slim Callaghan was, like his American hard-boiled cousins, cynical tough and marginally mannered.
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Price HK$ 15,000
1938 - Collins, London - First Edition
Dennis Wheatley’s copy, inscribed by Peter Cheyney ‘To my good friend Dennis’ and dated ‘14. 6. 38’. With Wheatley’s illustrated bookplate.A near fine copy of the first ‘Slim Callaghan’ novel, in fine and thus rare dust jacket.
Cheyney’s action-filled and action filled plots ran counter to the comfortable murder mysteries of the time, and Slim Callaghan was, like his American hard-boiled cousins, cynical tough and marginally mannered.
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Price HK$ 15,000
Don’t Get Me Wrong - Inscribed to Dennis Wheatley -
Peter Cheyney
1939 - Collins, London - First Edition
First edition of Peter Cheyney’s fifth Lemmy Caution novel. In fine and thus scarce dust jacket.
From the library of Cheyney’s friend and fellow author Dennis Wheatley with his wonderfully illustrated bookplate, and inscribed on the title page ‘ToTo Dennis, from Peter Cheyney.’ On the back flap of the dust jacket is a review from Wheatley “Peter Cheyney is now becoming a definite menace to all other thriller writers; for who will read any other thriller writer but Cheyney if they can get a chance?”
Wheatley described Cheyney as ‘the greatest liar unhung but a magnificent story teller’.
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Price HK$ 9,000
1939 - Collins, London - First Edition
First edition of Peter Cheyney’s fifth Lemmy Caution novel. In fine and thus scarce dust jacket.From the library of Cheyney’s friend and fellow author Dennis Wheatley with his wonderfully illustrated bookplate, and inscribed on the title page ‘ToTo Dennis, from Peter Cheyney.’ On the back flap of the dust jacket is a review from Wheatley “Peter Cheyney is now becoming a definite menace to all other thriller writers; for who will read any other thriller writer but Cheyney if they can get a chance?”
Wheatley described Cheyney as ‘the greatest liar unhung but a magnificent story teller’.
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Price HK$ 9,000
The Riddle of the Sands -
Erskine Childers
1903 - Smith, London - First Edition, First Impression
A crisp, clean and rare first edition, finely bound.
Written after Childers, an accomplished yachtsman, returned injured from action in South Africa. Highlighting the encroaching conflict with Germany, the novel was highly influential and is actually credited with the founding of British naval bases at Invergordon and Scapa Flow; newly regarded as strategically important after examination of the scenarios in Childers' text. Winston Churchill later gave the book the credit for persuading public opinion to fund vital measures against the German naval threat.
Contentiously described as the first modern spy thriller, vying for the title with Kipling's 'Kim', published two years earlier.
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Price HK$ 21,000
1903 - Smith, London - First Edition, First Impression
A crisp, clean and rare first edition, finely bound.Written after Childers, an accomplished yachtsman, returned injured from action in South Africa. Highlighting the encroaching conflict with Germany, the novel was highly influential and is actually credited with the founding of British naval bases at Invergordon and Scapa Flow; newly regarded as strategically important after examination of the scenarios in Childers' text. Winston Churchill later gave the book the credit for persuading public opinion to fund vital measures against the German naval threat.
Contentiously described as the first modern spy thriller, vying for the title with Kipling's 'Kim', published two years earlier.
More details
Price HK$ 21,000