COPIES ARE RARELY SEEN
The Queen of Hearts
Hurst & Blackett, 1859.
First edition. Three volumes in publisher's olive, wavy grained, cloth with gilt titles to the spine and decoration to covers stamped in blind. A fine copy with clean cloth and bright gilt. All hinges perfect and internally fresh. An exceptional copy.
A collection of ten connected stories, mainly of a supernatural nature, but including the celebrated early detective story, The Biter Bit, and in Anne Rodway, Collins creates possibly the first female detective in fiction.
Exceptionally scarce in the original cloth, Michael Sadleir notes even in 1951, "that to-day copies are rarely seen", and places it second in his list of comparative scarcities. This certainly remains true today, but those copies that are seen are generally from circulating libraries and are badly damaged or repaired. Copies in such fine condition are almost unheard of.
Sadleir 603; Queen's Quorum 3.
Stock ID: 44164
£25,000.00
