THE KING IN YELLOW. Chicago, New York: F. Tennyson Neely Publisher, 1895. Small octavo, pp. [1-2] [1-9] 10-316 [317: ad] [318: blank], original pictorial green cloth, front and spine panels stamped in brown, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. First edition. Of the three printings with title pages dated 1895, this one is generally accepted as the first. There is no inserted frontispiece, page [318] is blank, lizard design is on the front cover, and sheets bulk 1.5 cm. The author's second book and first collection of short stories. "One of the most important works of supernatural horror between Edgar Allan Poe and modern horror fiction." - Bleiler (ed), Supernatural Fiction Writers: Fantasy and Horror, p. 739. "Surprisingly vital stories, undoubtedly the best work that Chambers did. A landmark book in abandoning the ghosts of Victorian literary tradition and concentrating on the nightmare." - Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 364. "... one of the basic documents in the history of fantastic fiction." - Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 396. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 364. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature II, pp. 844-47. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 2-12. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-49. Private owner's armorial bookplate affixed to the front paste-down and name, address and date, July 1895," on front free endpaper. Mild foxing to spine panel, faint ghosting on title page from bookplate and writing on endpapers, but overall, a very attractive copy. (#162322).
Price: $2,250.00
No statement of printing on copyright page.