Skeffington & Son, London 1897
First Edition, First Printing Richard Marsh’s best-selling gothic horror masterpiece. The Beetle, a sensational and somewhat lurid tale of a shapeshifting Egyptian entity seeking revenge, was released the same year as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with both stories presented in an extremely similar format featuring multiple narrators and compiled documents, and initially far outsold the vampire’s tale. The first edition sold out instantly. By 1913 it was into its 15th impression, all the others having sold out. Barron, Horror, 3-141; Bleiler, Supernatural, 1111; Locke I, page 151; Tymn, Horror, 3-162.
‘I saw him take a different shape before my eyes. His loose draperies fell about him . . and there issued out of them a monstrous creature of the beetle tribe . . ‘ ‘The Beetle, published in 1897, is the tale of a shape-changing Egyptian creature that comes to London seeking revenge on a leading MP, which greatly outsold its close rival Dracula (published the same year).’ ‘Mr. Richard Marsh has, so to speak, out-Heroded Herod’ – The Glasgow Herald, comparing Marsh to Bram Stoker (1898). ‘We cannot recommend The Beetle to persons whose nerves are weak . . ‘ – The Speaker (1898).
A superb unrestored near fine copy in the scarce original boards. Illustrated with frontispiece, three plates, and text decorations after John Williamson. Publisher’s pictorial red cloth stamped in vibrant unfaded gilt, black, and green with a giant beetle across the front. Original end papers present with a shadow of the removal of a bookplate. Internally clean and crisp, with slight minor scattered foxing.
A superb copy of this title, extremely rare in this condition. Outstanding presentation on the shelf and perfect for a horror genre collector.
