THE MYSTERY OF MADELINE LE BLANC. Cambridge, Mass. The Co-operative Publishing Company ... Successor in all the rights of this book, to F. Tennyson Neely, [cop. [1900]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] 5-107 [108: blank], publisher's decorated light gray cloth, front panel stamped in red and black, spine panel stamped in black. First edition. "Set primarily in a small town in the south of France in 1870 during the July Revolution, THE MYSTERY OF MADELINE LE BLANC is an early precursor to the shudder pulps of the 1930s. Dr. Satiani, a monarchist, is determined to regain the wealth and status his noble family lost as result of the French Revolution and the overthrow of Louis XVI. Satiani has created a gas that induces a cataleptic state that resembles death, which he tests on Madeline Le Blanc, the daughter of a family that supports the rebels seeking to depose Charles X. Believing her to have died suddenly as the result of a mysterious condition, Madeline's family buries her immediately, but Satiani, aided by his dwarf henchman, digs her up, believing he can revive her and claim her for his own. Well-written and nicely told, THE MYSTERY OF MADELINE LE BLANC lacks the occasionally entertaining luridness that defines the shudder pulps, but is a much more effective, engaging story" (Boyd White). Max Ehrmann (1872-1945) was an American writer from Terre Haute, Indiana. According to E. F. Bleiler, much of Ehrmann's work was privately printed and published in Terre Haute (SCIENCE FICTION: THE EARLY YEARS 654). Cloth dusty, previous owner's name or inscription on front free endpaper inked out, a sound, good copy. A scarce book. (#171086).
Price: $1,250.00
No statement of printing.