THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF LUCY SMITH. New York: Frank F. Lovell & Company, n.d. [1887?]. Octavo, pp. [3-7] 8-233 [234: blank] [note: text complete despite gap in pagination], original decorated maroon cloth, front panel stamped in black, spine panel stamped in black and gold. First U.S. hardcover edition? There were at least four paperbound pirated editions of this novel published in the United States in 1887, including a Frank F. Lovell edition (number 86 of their "Household Library" series). This undated "Aldine Edition" may be the first U.S. hardcover edition. "Sensational supernatural thriller; innocent heroine makes a strange bargain to sell her dreams, thus placed under psychic control of an evil magician. He is ultimately vanquished by a more powerful meta-physician, who in many ways resembles Stoker's Van Helsing. Episodic, but the weird elements are well-handled, and the magician's demise quite horrific." - Robert Knowlton. Reginald 38014. Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978). Not in the Eaton catalogue. Not in Sadleir. Not in Wolff. Not in Locke, Spectrum I-III. Pulp paper text block tanned, endpapers foxed, but a remarkably nice copy of this fragile book with bright cover stamping. An uncommon book in any edition, the first English edition (Swan Sonnenschein, 1887) being quite rare. (#170806).
Price: $450.00
No statement of printing.