THE HILL OF TROUBLE AND OTHER STORIES. London: Isbister & Co. Limited, 1903. Octavo, pp. [1-8] [1-3] 4-398 [399-408: ads], original decorated blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and gold, publisher's monogram stamped in blind on rear panel, fore edge rough-trimmed. First edition. Presentation copy with signed inscription by Benson to Frank T. A. Ashton Gwatkin dated 26 February 1903 on front free endpaper. Benson's first collection of short fiction. "Collection of academic ghost stories and classical fantasies; the most notable are 'The Gray Cat,' in which a demonic cat attaches itself to a boy and is driven away with difficulty; and 'The Closed Window,' about a window which looks out into a sinister parallel world." - Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-14. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 135. Clute and Grant (eds), The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997), p. 106. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 28-31. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-10. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 63. Bleiler (1978), p. 20. Reginald 01119. Cloth rubbed at spine ends, corner tips, and along outer joints, endpapers lightly foxed (less than usual for this book), a very good, externally bright copy. A nice copy of an uncommon book. (#171883).
Price: $1,000.00
No statement of printing.