THE GHOST PIRATES. London: Stanley Paul & Co., 1909. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-276 + 12 pages of publisher's ads at rear, inserted frontispiece with illustration by Sidney H. Sime, original red cloth, front panel stamped in gold with blind stamped border, spine panel stamped in gold, bottom edge untrimmed. First edition. Probable first binding of red cloth with lettering in gold on front and spine panels. "A ship bearing a mysterious curse slips into a hinterland between parallel worlds, where it becomes vulnerable to assault by bestial creatures from the other universe. Credibility is assured by virtue of the author's long experience at sea, and the suspense is handled with great skill. Though far less striking in its imagery than THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND (1908), it is superior in terms of its internal coherency, and is one of the great weird novels." - Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-91. "Vivid, filled with the minutiae of a sailing vessel, this is one of the great sea novels. While in a sense it is derivative from THE INHERITORS by Conrad and Hueffer, it is highly original in detail and well done. Although it is overshadowed as visionary horror by the more spectacular THE HOUSE ON THE BORDERLAND and THE NIGHT LAND, as a work of art, it is finer." - Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 816. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, pp. 94-5. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 424. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 114. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 203-04. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature II, pp. 601-04. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-105. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 101. Reginald 7282. Cloth rubbed at extremities, spine panel just a bit darkened, endpapers tanned with offset from endpapers on first and last leaves, hairline crack along inner front hinge which is still holding tight, a good or better copy. A quite presentable copy of an elusive book rarely found in superior condition. (#161229).
Price: $2,250.00
No statement of printing.