THE WEIRD OF DEADLY HOLLOW: A TALE OF THE CAPE COLONY. London: F.V. White & Co., 1899. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-315 [316-320 ads], three inserted plates with illustrations by Harold Piffard, original decorated dark green cloth, front panel red, spine panel stamped in red and gold, publisher's monogram stamped in blind on rear panel. Second edition. A weird novel set in South Africa. A gruesome tale of murders, a curse, revenge and more murders; marginally supernatural. "Years ago, it is said, 'Moordenaar's Hoek' (Afrikaans for 'Deadly' or 'Murderer's Hollow') witnessed a horrible tragedy. Gert Van Niekerk, a Boer farmer, murdered his brother in cold blood during a terrible storm. Hanged for his crime, Van Niekerk's ghost haunts the land in the form of a spectral leopard that can appear and disappear at will. And, according to local legend, a 'blood curse' haunts the Hollow, where, on dark and stormy nights, the horrible murder is reenacted" (publisher's blurb). Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978) or Reginald (1979; 1992). Pulpy endpapers and text paper tanned, latter mostly margins, a very good copy. (#170360).
Price: $225.00
No statement of printing.