THE FATE OF LUKE ORMEROD. London: Hurst and Blackett, Ltd., 1905. Octavo, pp. [1-8] [1] 2-327 [328: printer's imprint] [note: first leaf is a blank], original sage green cloth, front and spine panels stamped in red and black. First edition. A speaking clockwork automaton which has become the sensation of the music halls, is the focus of this sentimental crime romance. Its inventor, a reclusive old man, is being blackmailed, and the villain dies in his laboratory under suspicious circumstances. A young ship's captain, who has fallen in love with the inventor's daughter, witnesses the event, and is caught in a dilemma. The young captain eventually figures out a way to solve all the problems. (The "speech" of the automaton is really produced by the inventor's son, hidden in the machine, making the science fictional aspect of this rather marginal.). Bleiler (1978), p. 63. Not in Reginald (1979; 1992). Hubin (1994), p. 243. Cloth rubbed at edges, some soiling and staining to cloth, endpapers and edges of text block foxed, a sound, good copy. (#130282).
Price: $100.00
No statement of printing.