A GENTLEMAN'S GENTLEMAN: BEING CERTAIN PAGES FROM THE LIFE AND STRANGE ADVENTURES OF SIR NICHOLAS STEELE, BART. AS RELATED BY HIS VALET, HILDEBRAND BIGG. London: A. D. Innes, 1896. Octavo, pp. [1-2] [i-v] vi [1] 2-344 [note: first leaf is blank save for tiny signature mark "a" on recto] + 8-page publisher's catalogue dated "February, 1896" inserted at rear. eight inserted plates with illustrations by Sydney Cowell. original blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, publisher's monogram stamped in blind on rear cover, all edges untrimmed. First edition. A rare collection of criminous stories that features one of the first teams of crooks in literature, anticipating A. J. Raffles and Bunny by three years. Hubin (1994), p. 634. Not in Wolff. Cloth worn at spine ends and corner tips, spine a bit marked and soiled, frontispiece tissue guard foxed with offset on title page, a very good copy. (#113656).
Price: $450.00
No statement of printing.