MONSIEUR LECOQ ... Translated and Introduced by Nina Cooper. [Encino, CA]: A Black Coat Press Book, [2009]. Octavo, pictorial wrappers. First printing of this edition. A famous roman policier featuring detective M. Lecoq, first published in 1869. There were many translations into English under various titles, and novel was the basis for a silent film made in 1914. Gaboriau's twelfth book and the fifth novel in which Lecoq appears "is today often considered his best and most readable book. Changing reading habits, plus indifferent translations, have left the pioneer French mystery writer all but unread today, but he deserves a place in any survey of classic detective fiction." - Pronzini and Muller, 1001 Midnights: The Aficionado's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction, pp. 279-80. Many consider Gaboriau and Poe to be the founders of the detective fiction genre. The Black Coat Press edition includes a useful 12-page introduction by Nina Cooper and a 10-page "A Biography of Monsieur Lecoq" by popular literature scholar Rick Lai. See Glover and Greene, Victorian Detective Fiction 197. Hubin (1994), p. 311. A fine copy. Trade paperback format. (#177598).
Price: $25.00
"First Printing. June 2009" on copyright page.