LITTLE CLASSICS ... MYSTERY. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, Late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., 1875. 12mo, pp. [1-7] 8-231 [232: blank], flyleaves at front and rear, title page printed in red and black, original decorated green cloth, front panel stamped in black, spine panel stamped in black and gold, rear panel stamped in blind, slate coated endpapers, all edges stained red. First edition. One of the earliest American anthologies of fantastic fiction. MYSTERY was volume eight of Osgood's twelve-volume "Little Classics" series. Five of eight stories collected here are supernatural tales: "The Ghost" by William D. O'Connor, "The Four-Fifteen Express" by Amelia B. Edwards, "The Signal-Man" by Charles Dickens, "The Hunted Ships" by Allan Cunningham, and "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. "A good selection" - Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 924. A popular series, reprinted many times, the 1875 first printing is uncommon. Bleiler (1978), p. 110. Reginald 07931. Slight spine lean, cloth lightly rubbed at spine ends and corner tips and along outer joints, a very good or somewhat better copy. (#137572).
Price: $100.00
No statement of printing on copyright page.