Estimate: | £200 - £300 |
Hammer price: | £1,400 |
SHERIDAN LE FANU, John Thomas (1814-73). The Evil Guest. London: Downey & Co., [n.d. but publisher's advertisements at the end dated March 1895]. 8vo (187 x 122mm). Frontispiece and title printed in sepia, wood-engraved illustrations by Brinsley Le Fanu, 8-pages of publisher's advertisements at the end (occasional light spotting and staining, Q2 soiled at upper corner, and the previous two leaves creased at corner). Original decorated cloth gilt, the upper cover with "Gothic" door-hinge design, one incorporating a griffin (a little faded and lightly rubbed). FIRST EDITION. Sadleir 1374; Wolff 4011. The illustrator was the author's son. With 19 other books by (or, in one case, about) the same author, most early editions, including The Rose and the Key ([London, c. 1875]), The Fortunes of Colonel Torlogh O'Brien (London, [c. 1880], illustrations by H. K. Browne), In a Glass Darkly (London, 1884), Guy Deverell ... A New edition (London, [n.d. but advertisements dated January 1889]), All in the Dark ([London, c. 1892], The Cock and Anchor ([London, c. 1895]) and A Chronicle of Golden Friars and Other Stories (London, 1896), all the named items in original cloth. Provenance: from the Library of the late Sir George Engle. Please note that only a part of this lot is illustrated. (20)