George Newnes, London, 1892
First Edition, in the first issue Spencer, Blackett binding : Original full deep red cloth, gilt-lettered front board and spine with ornamental border and cornerpieces stamped in black across binding. “Spencer Blackett’s / Standard / Library” in gilt at foot of spine.
Original full vibrant deep red cloth, gilt-lettered front board and spine with ornamental border and cornerpieces stamped in black across binding. “Spencer Blackett’s / Standard / Library” in gilt at foot of spine. Black coated endpapers with a shadow of a removed book plate. Frontispiece by Charles Kerr. Incomplete numeral on contents page (“13” instead of “138”); dropped letter “w shed” (for “wished”) on page 56. Full rough cut outer page block. This copy is without the rear publisher’s catalogue, and with the final page showing “The End” on page 283. The book has had some slight restoration with the spine rebacked, and presents extremely well with vibrant red cloth and some of the common sunning to the spine. The boards have no edgewear, and the binding is very tight and square. Unlike most copies of this title which have poor/cracked bindings and loose pages, this book is tightly bound and is quite readable and not fragile. All pages are present and are unusually clean with no handling marks, no foxing, no owner names, no inscriptions and no bent pages. Please see many detailed images. Exceedingly Scarce with Spencer Blackett first issue bindings selling for over $17,000, and with those in the second issue binding selling for $9,000 .
The second Sherlock Holmes story after A Study in Scarlet. At the time, it received only moderate success, but after the publication of the stories in Adventures and Memoirs its popularity soared.
A very handsome copy in collectible condition, in the first issue, first state binding.
