The Mystery of Cloomber (Inscribed)
- London: Hodder & Soughton's Sevenpenny Library, 1914
London: Hodder & Soughton's Sevenpenny Library, 1914. Later edition. Near Fine. Small octavo (6 3/8 x 4 1/4 inches; 162 x 108 mm.). [i-iv], v-vi, 7- 259, [1, blank] pp. [3 pp, advertisements on rear endpapers]. Including colored frontispiece and title-page printed on glossy paper. Publishers embossed salmon cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Inscribed in ink on title-page "With homage to Belgium / Arthur Conan Doyle". A near fine copy.
The Mystery of Cloomber is the second novel (preceded only by A Study in Scarlet) by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in 1888 in the Pall Mall Gazette. Doyle sets this mystery in a remote seaside town in Scotland, adding to the unsettling atmosphere permeating the story. It follows a John Fothergill West as he moves from Edinburgh to care for a family estate. Elements of spiritualism and the supernatural meet with a critique of British colonialism in the surprising novel.
Loosely inserted in a glassine envelope is a newspaper clipping (ca. 1914): "Is the friend as to whom you are in doubt regarding what you should give for a Christmas present a book-lover? Then go to the offices of Canada's Grand Trunk Railway system, 19 Cockspur-street, S.W. There you will be able to choose for him a volume by one of his favourite writers, autographed by the author, and, if you are lucky, with a special inscription in addition. It is a wonderful collection which Miss Elizabeth Banks has got together, and is offering for sale on behalf of The Daily Telegraph Fund. Famous writes, British and American, have sent copies of their works, with their signatures on the title-page…” The Daily Telegraph Belgium Fund was a program to raise money from selling books to support Belgium’s WWI efforts. Here the title page is inscribed by Sir. A. Conan Doyle: "With homage to Belgium."
Green & Gibson A2 (later edition). Near Fine.
The Mystery of Cloomber is the second novel (preceded only by A Study in Scarlet) by the British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in 1888 in the Pall Mall Gazette. Doyle sets this mystery in a remote seaside town in Scotland, adding to the unsettling atmosphere permeating the story. It follows a John Fothergill West as he moves from Edinburgh to care for a family estate. Elements of spiritualism and the supernatural meet with a critique of British colonialism in the surprising novel.
Loosely inserted in a glassine envelope is a newspaper clipping (ca. 1914): "Is the friend as to whom you are in doubt regarding what you should give for a Christmas present a book-lover? Then go to the offices of Canada's Grand Trunk Railway system, 19 Cockspur-street, S.W. There you will be able to choose for him a volume by one of his favourite writers, autographed by the author, and, if you are lucky, with a special inscription in addition. It is a wonderful collection which Miss Elizabeth Banks has got together, and is offering for sale on behalf of The Daily Telegraph Fund. Famous writes, British and American, have sent copies of their works, with their signatures on the title-page…” The Daily Telegraph Belgium Fund was a program to raise money from selling books to support Belgium’s WWI efforts. Here the title page is inscribed by Sir. A. Conan Doyle: "With homage to Belgium."
Green & Gibson A2 (later edition). Near Fine.