PEACOCK HOUSE AND OTHER MYSTERIES.
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1927. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1-6] 7-280 [281-284: blank] [note: first two and last two leaves are blanks], original red-brown cloth, front panel stamped in blind, spine panel stamped in gold. First edition, U.S. issue with title leaf a cancel. The U.S. edition was printed from the plates of the British edition. Probably the author's strongest collection of short fiction, fifteen stories including weird and criminous tales. "Of these fifteen tales the best (and best-known) are: 'The Three Dead Men,' 'The Iron Pineapple,' [and] 'My First Murder.' All deserve their fame, and the rest are not to be sneezed at. EP is a born storyteller, especially in his Devon dialect pieces. Worth anybody's attention, but not detection in the active voice." - Barzun and Taylor, A Catalogue of Crime 2717. [Reference: Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1309. Queen, The Detective Short Story, p. 85. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-201. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 409. Bleiler, p. 158. Not in Reginald (1979; 1992). Hubin (1994), p. 645]. A nearly fine copy in a very good dust jacket with light wear to the corner tips and spine ends with shallow loss, some age darkening to spine panel. (30737). Item #30737
Price: $450.00