A Study in Scarlet 1887 - "...flung like a bombshell into the field of detective fiction."

“There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the 
colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, 
and expose every inch of it.” (Holmes / Doyle)

A. Conan Doyle.A STUDY IN SCARLET. (BEETON'S CHRISTMAS ANNUAL.) Ward, Lock & Co., (1887)

Current Prices $160,000+ / £100,000 +




DETECTIVE FICTION / MYSTERY
The first appearance of Sherlock Holmes; the first printing of the first Sherlock Holmes story. "That lurid paper-back of Christmas 1887 is today one of the rarest books of modern times--a keystone sought by discriminating collectors in every part of the world--flung like a bombshell into the field of detective fiction" (Vincent Starrett.) The most valuable mystery and not utterly impossible to find. It is not as rare,say, as an 1865 'Alice' which was withdrawn - it could be bought at news kiosks and railway stations in the magical Christmas of 1887. I thought I would revisit it with all the hoo-ha about the new Guy Ritchie Sherlock movie, said to be not unamusing...

It can show up in a bound annual and occasionally you see stout volumes of the annual and your heart leaps for a moment - but they are always from other years. If you see 1887 on the spine move fast - in case, as Javier Marias, puts it 'the swifter glove of another hunter might appear precisely at that moment and snatch it from you.' One turned up for a pittance on the Portobello road about 1980 - it was bound with other magazines of the period. I missed it by about 20 minutes. The biggest sleeper. The dealer who bought it told the seller the true value what he had found; the unfortunate guy is said to have gone off his rocker. Possibly mythical, but it is bad form to boast about books especially to the seller-he might have other stuff.

Plot? It plunges us straight into the dark world of an unsolved murder in Victorian London, which has links to the American West and the Mormons. 

The Mormon stuff is said to be poorly researched. Watson is seen as a soldier-hero as well as a doctor, and not as a bumbling side-kick to Holmes, who is shown here as a decidedly odd and pompous man, less of an eagle eyed polymath than he becomes in later stories.


VALUE? In 2007 a high end LA dealer had a 'superior' copy at a not unthinkable $250,000. Another similar high end dealer of yore, the late lamented El Dieff had a copy in his 1971 catalogue at $2500. His, however, had 'facsimile wrappers' -- that is a 'sophisticated copy.' Highest auction record was at Sotheby's London in 2004 is $130,000 + 'the juice' taking it to $153,600 and this was for a copy described as 'somewhat creased, worn, and stained, tear, with small loss, to front wrapper and first ad leaf, spine much frayed with substantial loss, but still quite fresh and entirely unrestored.' Unrestored is good - and it can always be put in a handsome 'clam -shell' box. The 1888 first book edition has a 'point' on it - you want the word 'younger' spelled correctly in the preface (paragraph 2, line 3 not youuger which counter intuitively is the second state.) It can go for $40,000 + (that erroneous 'u' takes off about $10,000 and more)-- 2 copies bound in 'modern morocco' (one Bayntun, one Zaehnsdorf) have made circa $20 K in the last 5 years, a copy in a Zaehnsdorf binding (the same?) without original wraps has been on sale this year at a slightly dreamlike $85K. (That was 2007 and it may have sold or been knocked out, a similar copy in a more modern binding is on sale now at £17,500 also without the wraps.)

One dealer, with the 1888 first book edition, claims the colour front wrap is 'exceedingly rare as copies were intended to be rebound without covers at time of purchase' and there may be some veracity in that. Another, or possibly the same, 'sophisticated' El Dieff copy purchased from the Marquis of Donegall in 1975 showed up in mid 2007 and made $156000 (£100K or thereabouts`) it had 'skilful repairs to the margins of a few of the preliminary advertisements and to the frontispiece. Original colour-printed pictorial wrappers; much restored with bits of the upper and lower wrappers and all of the spine (rebacked) supplied in good facsimile.'The book also shows up in bound omnibuses of Christmas annuals usually sans wraps, a copy bound with 4 other Christmas special issues in contemporary half morocco, spine gilt (lettered "Christmas Annuals"), without original wrappers and advertisements, made £18,500 in May 2008. For a really serious earner you need the lurid wraps, or at least parts of them.

OUTLOOK? Are new Sherlock collectors being born? One hopes so. I can see no decline in demand, possibly the many Sherlockian societies like The Friends of Dr. Watson or The Franco- Midland Hardware Company are not filling up with members from the Ipod generation and supply might eventually overtake demand, but not for 1887 or 1888 Studies in Scarlet. Possession of the book speaks of a collector's status and taste and devotion there will, hopefully, always be those who wish to make that statement.

[A rejig from April 2007]

Vera Caspary. Laura. 1943. Noir of Noirs

Laura is the face in the misty night
footsteps that you hear down the hall
the laugh that floats on a summer night
which you can never quite recall. And you see
Laura, on a train that is passing through
Those eyes, how familiar they seem
She gave her very first kiss to you
That was Laura
But she's only a dream.



Vera Caspary. LAURA. Houghton, Mifflin, Boston, 1943.

Current Selling Prices
$6000-$10000 / £4000-£6000

THRILLER/ MYSTERY/ NOIR
A 'psychothriller', the darkest of noirs. A curiously elusive and much sought after book, a sleeper... A big sleeper, although several high profile prices have alerted punters to its real price. Highly uncommon novel (as a first) on which the one of the greatest of Hollywood's 1940s films was based. This film noir mystery directed by Otto Preminger in 1944 was awarded two Oscars and starred Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and a young Vincent Price. There is a scene in the bibliomystery 'The Sign of the Book' (John Dunning) where his detective /dealer sees a copy at a Burbank book fair change hands between dealers 6 times before the fair opens, moving from $600 to $7000 in a few minutes, possibly based on a real event. The psycho element in Caspary's novel comes from the way the book is written --from the five different viewpoints of the chief characters.


VALUE? A review copy in a decent but not fine jacket made $12000 in 2005 at the Cosmatos sale (Sotheby's NY), a lesser copy lotted with 3 other nothing books made $2000 a few months later at Bloomsbury. Between the Covers appear to have sold their copy,at an undisclosed price, probably high as their prices are invariably breathtaking. There are currently no copies of the first on the web and they are distinctly thin on the ground. The Eyre and Spottiswoode UK 1944 first is worth about a tenth of US editions but is a decent substitute (pic below).



The decent copy in a chipped and slightly used jacket seen at the San Francisco Book Fair in February 2008 at $10,000 has sold, possibly discounted. An exlibrary copy inscribed sits on the web at $3500 with a decent but consequently oversize first edition jacket (library rebinds often come out smaller), another inscribed copy sans jacket commands $3000. Fine copies trump inscribed copies but fine copies are quite unlikely to surface - the book has a fragile and vulnerable jacket and would have to have been kept under wraps, so to speak, from the day of publication. The witchy lyrics above are from a 1940s song, perhaps related it to the movie OUTLOOK? Patchy like many modern firsts, the movie is not talked about much more--however noir never goes away and younger collectors may get a taste for this genre as they weary of the occult and supernatural...

Dick Francis. Dead Cert, 1962.

Dick Francis. DEAD CERT. Michael Joseph, London, 1962.

Current Selling Prices $6000 - $8000 /£3000-£4000

MODERN FIRST EDITION /THRILLER
Dick Francis is the Queen Mother's jockey who became a horse racing journalist and then a bestselling thriller writer. Dead Cert is his first book and not one of his best, some might say it's the least good of a generally pretty distinguished bunch. It is his most valuable book because it his first novel and has become quite elusive. It is a book that can be found and does not look valuable to the layman. One dealer makes the claim 'one of the scarcest books of the last 60 years...' It would not be hard to name about 100 scarcer titles from this period without leaving the field of mod firsts--Theroux's 'Mount Holly', Middleton's 'Holiday', Larkin's 'XX Poems', Pratchett's 'Colour of Magic', Maclaren Ross 'My Name is Love', Le Carré 'Call for the Dead' Ballard 'I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan...' and so on. The old confusion of value and rarity--even "Lion, Witch and Wardrobe' is both more elusive and more valuable. I have never had a smart jacketed 'Witch' but have had at least 3 'Dead Certs.'

Francis has an enviable fanbase. It is not uncommon to see his books next to Beckett & Joyce --he is considered light reading for the highbrow, also his books will turn up with a lot of sporting books, or country books or amongst lowbrow airport novels. He is asked for all the time--all of his later books are fantastically common and signatures abound. Here is a plot summary of 'Dead Cert:-

'For millionaire jockey Alan York, winning is a bonus. For Joe Nantwich, victory means no cushy backhanders; and for Bill Davidson, front running on strongly fancied Admiral, triumph is an imposter. It means murder - his own. Turning private detective, York uses Joe's underworld connections to go on the trail of the killers - only to draw a series of blanks. But when ambushed by a gang of vicious thugs, he picks up some clues along with his cuts and bruises. Bill's murder begings to make more sense. Until York finds himself in hospital, without a memory.'

This isn't the cosy world of Poirot and Marple, there is often some pretty nasty violence, people get injured physically and mentally and there is as good an assortment of villainous psychopaths and sociopaths as you'd meet any afternoon at Haydock Park. The books are also well researched without shoving the work in your face as a lesser writer like Ian Mcewan might do (I'm thinking of the surgery in 'Saturday'.) The research was done by his wife and partner Mary Margaret Brenchley who sadly died in 2000.

VALUE? Admittedly it is hard to find a spiffing copy of the book. An indifferent but not price-clipped example described as an 'honest copy' sits on the web right now at £4500. The highest auction record is £2600 + 20% commission at Bloomsbury in 2004 for a copy described as '...in d/j with minor rubbing & fraying & soiling.' About 6 copies have breasted £2000, all with minor faults. Fine copies are not forthcoming and could be found with the publisher, printer or agent or possibly among the collection of a reviewer who never got round to reading it. This year a copy described thus '...offset marks from sellotape on half-title, original boards, dust-jacket, small light strips of tape on inside flaps, minor fraying to spine ends and corners, some very light marking, otherwise very good' made £2850. In 2004 a slightly better copy made £3050.

Francis is known to have presented the first copy of each book to the Queen Mother, often in the royal box at Ascot--even with the parlous state of Royal finances these are not going to turn up for a while. One imagines them on a forgotten shelf in a lady in waiting's under chamber at Clarence House next to the Cecil Beatons, the Beverly Nichols and the Norman Hartnells. At this month's auction of the QM's top servant William Tallon (aka 'Backstairs Billy') the only book he possessed of hers was a reprint 'Mapp and Lucia' with her ownership signature - it made £300. Dick's second presentee was a Dr. Dixey who lived and practised in a neighbouring village to him and verified the medical content in his thrillers. His collection, in less than brilliant nick, failed to sell at Bloomsbury against a reserve of £4000 - £6000.

OUTLOOK? The 'honest' copy is still there, inexplicably £250 more expensive (this entry was first posted 9 months back.) A better copy has come in at £4950. There used to be an old maxim amongst dealers that if something didn't sell that you should put the price up. I guess the idea was that the higher price conferred greater kudos on the book. In the age of the net and the ability to compare prices at a stroke this doesn't really work unless you have something unique or maddeningly desirable. Dick Francis may be leveling off, his tales of the turf possibly a little vieux jeu in the age of forensic and techno crime.

Ian Fleming, Octopussy 1966.

Ian Fleming. Octopussy and The Living Daylights. Jonathan Cape, London 1966.

Current Selling Prices
$100-$300 /£50-£150


MODERN FIRST EDITION/ ESPIONAGE / JAMES BOND
The above photo is of our own copy of 'Octopussy' which sold on Ebay just before Christmas (the happy holidays) at a stonking $740. Over the last few years we have sold about 200 fine/fine copies on ebay with a starting price of $9.99. None made less than $50, a few got over $200 and one over $300. I have a few left and haven't put a copy up for 6 months so this recent result came as a shock.

The reason one is always surprised that 'Octopussy' makes any money at all is that I can vividly remember it being sold in great bulk at 50p or less. A Cecil Court bookseller, one John Adrian of 'The Clearing House' (a Buchanite name) bought 32,000 copies of the first edition in the mid 1980s. The first edition print run was 50,000-- a Bondite website states '...contrary to popular opinion it was not actually remaindered' - but a bulk of new duplicate books bought from the publisher being sold off cheap adds up to remaindering by any other name (in my book.) The site also adds 'copies with unclipped jackets and no signs of a price sticker are preferred' and the Cecil Court bulk had the price in about 3 states. I can actual recall it selling as low as 5p (10 cents) and many customer bought twenty or more at a time. Around 2000 we bought a cupboardful in Chiswick. Our Ebay description, a model of suave brevity, read: -

FIRST EDITION, FIRST IMPRESSION*
First state of the first impression of the first edition. (The price on the corner of the dustwrapper's inner flap has not been overlaid with a publisher's revised price sticker.)
Fleming's final published Bond book, with the attractive Richard Chopping-designed dustwrapper
Exceptional condition: both book and dustwrapper are entirely without defect.

* (Important to stress this, it saves many questions--many an Ebayer has bought a book described as a first edition and received a sixth impression or some such worthless item, so it has to be spelled out unequivocally--often with a photo of the actual edition statement. Even then people will email asking how you know it a first and 'are you sure it isn't a later impression?')

VALUE? A quick troll of the massive ABE webmall reveals that fine/fine copies of copies with a later state price (i.e in metric price on label over the 10/6) can be had for £50 to £80 and first state at around a £100. An outfit with the name 'Books Tell You Why' want $1000 for a 'Fine+' copy and $675 for another. A memorable name for a business- combining excruciating cuteness with smug didacticism. How they arrived at such a stroppy price defies speculation.

Several people have copies signed by (Sir) Roger Moore, and Octopussy actors Maud Adams or Maryam d'Abo --these are offered at prices as high as $4500 and even touted as investments. There is evidence that these occasionally get bought - the guy with the $4500 one says that he sold another one also signed by Adams and D'Abo, but this copy is even better because this time Maryam d'Abo has added a heart symbol beneath her name. Helpfully he adds that it was 'real pleasure to catalogue this beautiful-looking little gem of a book!' For those of us who saw this book at 50p these prices will seem risible for a long time to come.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles. 1920 / 1921

Poirot was an extraordinary looking little man. He was hardly more than five feet, four inches, but carried himself with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military. The neatness of his attire was almost incredible, I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound. Yet this quaint dandyfied little man who, I was sorry to see, now limped badly, had been in his time one of the most celebrated members of the Belgian police...


Agatha Christie. THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES. John Lane, Bodley Head. London, 1921.

Current Selling Prices
$8000+ /£4000+

DETECTIVE FICTION / MYSTERY
Agatha Christie began writing during World War I while employed as a nurse. The Mysterious Affair at Styles, her first novel, was written at this time although not published until 1920. Christie's sly, solipsistic Belgian supersleuth, Hercule Poirot, makes his debut in this book. Captain Arthur Hastings, a guest at Styles Court, the family manor of his old friend John Cavendish, finds himself in a locked room mystery when Cavendish’s mother, Emily Inglethorpe, is discovered poisoned by strychnine inside her bedroom. Hastings, who fancies himself an amateur sleuth, suggests the Cavendish family engage his friend, Hercule Poirot, a recently retired Belgian detective to solve the murder. Thus begins one of the more memorable partnerships in mystery fiction--with the nice but dim Hastings as the Watson like foil to the masterly deductive powers of Hercules Poirot. Christie was not an outstaning prose stylist, Dick Francis can write better, but few come close to her skill in plotting. Her writing is clear and easily assimilated, we sell many of her books to foreign visitors to London wanting to learn or improve their English.

The book is not scarce but seldom turns up in fresh condition, it is usually worn at the spine and I have never seen it in jacket. Russell values it at £25000 in a jacket. About 7 years ago a copy was reported stolen from the cottage of a family member that was said to be in the jacket but I never heard of it surfacing anywhere. It is not impossible it was stolen to order by some gloating tycoon with a fetish for early jackets (a case for Poirot and 'his little grey cells.' ) To find a copy in a jacket would certainly be occasion for celebration, boasting and some serious overcharging.

We sold a jacket of an early edition (a 1920s Grosset) on ebay about 2000 and it attracted much interest. Similar jacket shown below. I recall it made over a $1000. Several punters emailed to ask where I had got it. This was a question that was never asked before the net and one was tempted to reply with a 'see you next Tuesday' but didn't. It was always a professional secret and in many cases one couldn't recall anyway. Since then I have replied civilly to such questions but still with vague disquiet and distaste lingering like the pain in an amputated limb.



VALUE? The US edition precedes by a year but is not as saleable (follow the flag) and the very first was the Canadian Ryerson edition but that is also worth a good deal less than the Bodley Head. The highest price achieved in auction was £4100 ( including commission) for a copy with a review blind stamp in 2000 ('original light brown cloth lettered and decorated in black, some light spotting, top edge occasionally roughly trimmed, binding slightly worn.') A US first ,cocked and soiled, made $2400 in 2005. A mediocre first sits at ABE at a toppish £6K right now. Later Christies from the 1920s and early 1930s in jacket are worth more.

Blackwells, who seem to like Agatha, have £13K on a 1936 jacketed 'Murder in Mesopotamia' - something of a noli tangere price. The highest price ever achieved in auction was £8500 in 2000 for a jacketed 1936 ABC Murders. She may no longer be going ahead spectacularly but super copies and early jackets on firsts are rare and valuable and easy to sell. I have a feeling they sell fairly quickly without need of cataloguing and thus leave little record. Signed copies show up often with persons with an archaeological connection (friends of her husband archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan) - at one point we bought a bunch inscribed to Sir Steven Runciman. Many good collections have shown up in the last 20 years and have usually sold fast - there must be many collectors holding rare Agathas in their locked cabinets. [ W/Q ** ]

Falls the Shadow. Mark Timlin. 1995.

Mark Timlin. FALLS THE SHADOW. Headline, London, 1995.

Current Selling Prices
$200 -$320 /£100-£160

THRILLER
South London Noir featuring the footloose Sharman. Absolutely unfindable. A paperback--I am not sure that a hardback was issued. Mark Timlin, a prolific many -named writer has been at it for 20 years and produced over 30 books. Other names include Johnny Angelo (Groupies 1&2), Jim Ballantyne, Tony Williams, Martin Milk and Holly Delatour. He is best known for his Nick Sharman thrillers (pic below) of which the Arena critic said: ' "Full of cars, girls, guns, strung out along the high sierras of Brixton and Battersea, the Elephant and the North Peckham Estate, all those jewels in the crown they call Sarf London." Loaded called him 'Well fucking hard.' I say this book is well hard to find but of course could be reprinted. The title is possibly from well hard poet TS Eliot's 'The Hollow Men': 'Between the idea/ And the reality / Between the motion/And the act/Falls the Shadow...' Timlin used to work in the rock and roll industry as a roadie for T-Rex and The Who and occasionally uses the rock world as a background. The charismatic Clive Owen played his tec Sharman in a TV series in 1996. The plot is summed up on a Sharman website thus:

'...Sharman has decided to knock being a barman on the head... He manages to get his office back, redecorated and decides to start up the PI business again. He is first job is to find a missing dog, not to hard but this is Sharman. He is also hired by Sunset Radio to find out who is sending turds to one of their presenters. Prime suspect is Sector 88, a gang of Nazis. The presenter Peter Day is also getting calls from a bloke called John, now is he just an obsessive fan? Chas makes an appearance in this one. This is one of best of the books, and for once Sharman solves the case by detecting rather than by asking questions and waiting to see who slaps him first.

VALUE? Not really known but Timlin, so far, is more read than collected and his highest prices are only up to about 60 quid. However a book as difficult as this could double that. A reissue could mean all bets are off. [ W/Q *** ]

STOP PRESS. The entry above was written in March 2007, since then a slightly lousy paperback copy has turned up on Amazon UK at a gouging £300, described thus: '... Rare copy of this title. An ex-library copy so contains stickers on inside back cover and one of pre-story pages. Apart from this in excellent condition.' In my opinion an ex library copy of a paperback is always very nasty and can never be called 'excellent' except in the callow patter of an amateur bookseller (('pre-story' - what's that all about?.) However the price gives the book a marker and a decent copy would probably now sell against it at £150 (it's a paperback) close to my original guesstimate. Rave on.

John Dunning. Booked to Die... Bibliomystery

This was our first ever entry in mid December 2006 and I am doing it again a little spiffed up over this slow Easter weekend. We have just bought 2000 books from the library of the late Angela Carter and about 1000 books of rocket science from the library of the author of 'Halley's Comet and the Principia' (Aldeburgh 1986) including 50 copies of that book. Also alot of genealogy of European nobility, Russian and Polish history and art and some stuff from the library of an intimate of Robert Byron including some of his books. So entries may be less frequent on this page -- but just till I get through 500 boxes of books. Pas de probleme.





John Dunning. BOOKED TO DIE. Scribner's NY 1992. ISBN 0684193833

$650-$850 / £320-£420


MODERN FIST EDITION / CRIME / BIBLIOMYSTERY.
One of the very best 'bibliomysteries' (i.e. a mystery novel involving books, rare books, book collectors etc.,). The first Clifford Janeway book, there have been 5 more, all bloody good but this is the best. Dunning appears to know all about book dealers, book scouts, high end deals and also the seedy side of the biz; he may have even dabbled in books.* (Someone is telling me he had or has a shop -- shades of McMurtry.)

His hero Janeway is an ex cop, a hulk of a man who takes no nonsense from villains but also knows the points on a first of 'Tender is the Night'. Cool guy. There are actually a few ex coppers in the book trade, so it is not too far fetched, although none have such serious pugilistic skills. Another great bibliomystery (with a Charing Cross setting) is Bernard J. Farmer's 'Death of a Bookseller.'

* I found this at Dunning's own website: "In 1984, with my wife Helen, I opened the Old Algonquin Bookstore in East Denver. We closed the store in 1994, two years after Booked to Die was published, and have been online booksellers ever since."

VALUE? There was a time when this book was knocking on a $1000 but there are just too many nice firsts and not quite enough punters so the price is now about $700 for a fine in d/w job, with a few brave souls still wanting over a grand. Inscribed copies are plentiful but command a premium. NOTA BENE: There is a slight upward trend with the book in the last 4 months with no fine/ fine copies for less than $750, so the $500 to $700 fine copies available around Christmas actually got bought. It happens. [ W/Q ** ]

Always a Thief. Jeffrey Deaver, 1988.

Jeffrey Deaver. ALWAYS A THIEF. Paperjacks, NY, 1988.

Current Selling Prices
$100-$220 /£50-£120


DETECTIVE FICTION / MYSTERY / CAPER
His second book and relatively hard to find but the kind of book you might turn up at a charity sale, thrift shop or flea market. Preceded by the supernatural thriller 'Voodoo' which is, for some reason more common and worth about a third less; second books are often harder to find than the first. Always a good idea to have some knowledge of collectable paperbacks 'cos in a lot of places paperbacks is all they've got. An art theft caper -didn't our own Jeffrey (Archer) do one of those? There is another 'Always a Thief' by Kay Hooper - a San Francisco art caper featuring Quin, a cat burglar. Not of significant value.

VALUE? Nice copy $100 + (all the cheap ones that were there when I looked in 2006 have gone) and being a paperback they are often not nice at all. Sometimes signed, I guess because punters took them to his Borders signings and the Deaver duly obliged. I have heard that occasionally this and his first book (also a pb original) turn up on ebay and can make 'ridiculous' prices. JD has sworn they will never be reprinted. Alot of writers do this, perhaps the most famous is Greene's 'Rumour at Nightfall' a book of which he was later ashamed. All copies are firsts and damned saleable. Often writers will not sign these disowned books but Deaver (by all accounts an amicable fellow and excellent cook) is an exception. [ W/Q ** ]

C. Daly King. Arrogant Alibi 1938.

Today's book is a thriller by an American author who also wrote books on pychology. Some of his non fiction is readily available but his early work 'Beyond Behaviorism' (1922) is elusive and probably worth a few bob as a curiosity. In the UK you see his mysteries in the green Penguin series-- eg 'Obelists at Sea' which he wrote in Bermuda.

C. Daly King. ARROGANT ALIBI. Collins Crime Club, London 1938


DETECTIVE FICTION / MYSTERY.
Elusive title from this odd US mystery writer. It features his 'tec Michael Lord who is in the psychological series Obelists. Collins Crime Club and hard to find even sans jacket. A person names Desirée D. Hammon has published a thriller in 2006 called Arrogant Alibi. A candidate for the Kate Adie prize?

Current Selling Prices
$1300 -2000 / £650 - £1100 Want level 15-30 Quite High

VALUE? RB Russell puts it at £1250 in jacket and a tenth of that without. The market could probably still stand such prices, although one suspects that King is less read than of yore. Are they still churning out golden age collectors? His Queen's Quorum short story collection 'The Curious Mr Tarrant' is worth considerably more and has cult status; however it was reprinted and many are content with those - this title, apart from the Appleton 1939 American first, was never reprinted. I am indebted to the invaluable and well stocked (esp golden age mysteries) facsimiledustjackets.com for the jpeg.

Arthur Upfield. Beach of Atonement

Today's book is from down under and foolishly uncommon, I have never had one, although a pal (runner, book scout, rock legend and boulevardier Martin Stone) had one for about 2 hours sans d/w back in early 1980s as I dimly recall...

Arthur Upfield. THE BEACH OF ATONEMENT.Hutchinson, London 1930.

FICTION/ MYSTERY /ROMANCE
Australian fiction - a psychological, romantic thriller not featuring his usual character Inspector Bonaparte. Rarer and more desirable than his first book published in 1928 'House of Cain.' Someone must have seen it in d/w because it is known to be by Robb and it should have 7/6 on the spine. Even the National Library of Australia's copy has been stolen. This is always an indication that a book is going to be bloody hard to find.

VALUE? I dread to think what this is worth in d/w -- there are people willing to pay over 200 quid for a facsimile. See this piece found on a fan's website--" Any Upfield fans wanting to read AWU's scarcest novel, The Beach of Atonement, will be interested to know that you may purchase a photocopy of the complete text of the 1930 Hutchinson, London original from The British Library, London, England. The cost is GBP £38.00 for photocopying plus £145.00 copyright fee plus17.5% VAT (=Total Cost £215.03). You can potentially do this with almost any book, the bloke goes on ;" To avail yourself of this facility, visit www.bl.uk. Go to The British Library Public Catalogue where you will find the book listed. The shelfmark number is NN.16529." There is a discernible movement to get the book reprinted much resisted by the Upfield estate. No copies of any edition currently available, stunningly hard to find. I want it.

THE ODDS? £4000? / $7500 Want Level 30-50 Highish