ADVENTURES OF GERARD.
London: George Newnes, n.d. [1903]. Original dark blue cloth decorated in gilt.
First Edition of these eight additional tales of the Napoleonic soldier Étienne Gerard, the sequel to his EXPLOITS published in 1896. During the decade between Sherlock Holmes's death in 1893 ("The Final Problem" in The Strand Magazine of December 1893), and his resurrection in October 1903 ("The Empty House" in The Strand issue of October 1903), Doyle tried unsuccessfully to meet his public's demand for adventure tales in The Strand with these Brigadier Gerard yarns. Though not mentioned on the title page, the book is illustrated with plates by W.B. Wollen.
This is an unusually bright copy, without soil or wear -- FINE except for one oddity: an early owner (see below) wrote his name not on the front endpaper but on the top edge of the leaves. Green & Gibson A27a. Provenance: small W.H. Smith blind-stamp at the corner of the front free endpaper; above-referenced calligraphic name of the renowned British racehorse trainer P[eter]. [Valentine] Purcell Gilpin (1858-1928); a caricature of him appeared in Vanity Fair in 1908. Item #15345
Price: $625.00