L. W. Currey, Inc.

Halidom, M. Y. (pseudonym of Alexander Huth). TALES OF THE WONDER CLUB ... FIRST SERIES [with] TALES OF THE WONDER CLUB. SECOND SERIES ... [with] THE LAST OF THE WONDER CLUB ... THE GIPSY QUEEN: A ROMANTIC PLAY. London: Thomas Burleigh, 1903-1905. Octavo, three volumes: [1-4] [1] 2-316; [1-4] [1] 2-318 [319-324: ads]; [1-4] [1] 2-158 [159-170: "press notices"] [1-4] [1] 2-144 [145-146: blank], 21 plates (including pictorial title leaves), original decorated red cloth, front panels stamped in blind, spine panels stamped in gold and blind. First two volumes are the "new and revised" editions, the last the "third revised" edition. Revised text of the three-volume edition published under the "Dryasdust" pseudonym by Harrison & Sons circa 1899-1900. "Omnibus collection of 'blood-curdling' tales with decidedly mid-Victorian flavor, in spite of publication date; set in an old-fashioned frame, too, told 'round the Yule Log at 'Ye Headless Ladye,' a Midlands hostelry of the old coaching days circa 1800, by an informal club of travelers and their hosts. Enlivened by a Dickensian mixture of the cold grue and the grotesquely humorous: like the fat boy, they 'only wants to make your flesh creep.' Notable tales include 'The Phantom Flea' and 'The Spirit Leg' in volume I; 'Execution' and 'The Waxen Image' in volume II; Volume III has no fantasy content, being mostly taken up with Gothic melodrama 'The Gipsy Queen.'" - Robert Knowlton. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, p. 87. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 2-50. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 565. Schlobin, The Literature of Fantasy 1155, 1157 and 1158. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-89. Bleiler (1978), p. 64. Reginald 06648A, 06649A and 06649B. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 102 who notes that "sets of this edition show up less often than do sets of the Dryasdust edition." Mild bump to upper fore-edge corner of volume I, early owner's ink-stamped monogram on the front free endpaper of volume III, a very bright, tight, nearly fine set. Quite superior condition for sets of this edition. (#171848).

Price: $500.00