PHOENIX PRESS – BRITISH PULP FICTION AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1950]. First edition. “Hang it all, Felicity, it’s a bit thick when I can’t kiss my own wife”. Marriage begins with some issues. In the “Snappy Novels” series, published from Phoenix’s post-1949 Kennington Lane address.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 64pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; spine splitting; diagonal crease to upper wrapper; staples rusted; text a little marked in places; a reasonable copy of an uncommon title. No copy located in any major library worldwide.

£20

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1945]. Second edition. Mona travels up to Scotland to find out what’s happened to her lover – and finds him marrying another woman. He doesn’t get to go on honeymoon. Originally published by Andrew Melrose in 1937 and here put out in a fresh edition by Phoenix from their post-1941 Deacon Street address.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; a little worn, creased and soiled; some light staining and discolouration to leaves at rear; piece torn from one leaf and pinned back into place; a reasonable copy of a scarce book. No copy of this edition located in any major library worldwide.

£10

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London : Phoenix Press, [1949]. [Second edition]. Richard Ballard – tall, handsome, charming – a much- admired young author – returns to the Front in 1918 leaving behind his bride of two days. Originally published by Fiction Features in about 1930.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 96pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – blonde sleeps peacefully, anguished man in chair – some light wear; minor splitting and creasing; text a little tanned, with a circular light brown mark to final leaves, but a good copy of a scarce and fragile production. No copy of any edition located in any major library worldwide.

£40

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1940]. [Second edition]. Handsome libertine and remittance man John Galway falls for a South Seas beauty. Originally published by Gramol in about 1930 and here published by Phoenix from their pre-1942 Elephant Road address.
Crown 8vo (19cm). [96]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by H. W. Perl; a little worn, soiled, nicked, chipped and creased; a few internal marks and spots, but a good and serviceable copy. No copy of any edition located in any major library worldwide.

£40

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1950]. A fresh edition of a Rénin title which appears to have been first published in 1943. Playwright Bruce Austin hurtles across a London street to prevent a young prostitute from throwing herself under the Charing Cross bus. Published from Phoenix’s post-1949 Kennington Lane address.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 96pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; chipped at extremities; a little spotted and creased; mild discolouration at head of opening leaves; text a little tanned in places; a reasonable copy of an uncommon title. Just two copies of any edition and just a single copy (British Library) of this edition located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1950]. First edition. “The girl in the thin kimono panted the words of fury and defiance as she tore her lips away from the man in whose arms she lay writhing ...”. Published from Phoenix’s post-1949 Kennington Lane address.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 96pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; some minor wear and faint creasing; text lightly tanned; American price over-printed on upper wrapper, but overall a very good copy. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£50

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1946]. [Third edition] : issued from Phoenix’s post 1941 Deacon Street address. “A story of love that came too late to a woman of sin” – a tale also commencing with two contrasting impoverished writers on Fleet Street.
Crown 8vo (19cm). [96]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by H. W. Perl; some light wear and mild creasing; some mild spotting, but overall a very good copy. Just a single copy (British Library) of this edition located in major libraries worldwide.

£25

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1952]. [Third? edition]. “She came to Paris when she was twelve, but how, where from, with what intent – not even the wisest know, not even the most selective memories can recall. Susanne just came, and perhaps it was more suitable thus, for to think of this wild, untamed, altogether lovely little devil – as she certainly was – having a conventional home, a mother to grieve over her misdoings, a father to reprimand, brothers and sisters to scorn and quarrel – why, it was sheer nonsense”. Published from Phoenix’s post-1949 Kennington Lane address. Holland & Williams (1990) make no mention of this edition, but suggest the existence of both a Gramol edition from the late 1920s and a Popular Fiction edition of 1951: no copy of either has been traced, but a variant of this Phoenix edition, with a different and possibly earlier cover is now known.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Vibart; some light wear; wrappers a little creased and slightly nicked; staples rusted; a few minor marks and creases, but overall a very good copy of a scarce and fragile production. No copy of this or any other edition located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1950]. [Second edition]. Young Mayfair socialite left penniless. Reported to have originally been published by Modern Fiction in 1948, although no copy of this edition has been traced. Published from Phoenix’s post-1949 Kennington Lane address.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 96pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; slight wear and splitting to spine; small bruise to fore-edge; American price faintly overprinted on upper wrapper, but a very good copy. Only a single copy (British Library) of any edition located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1952]. First edition. A poetic youth encounters a pretty and forward new maid at Southfields Farm.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 96pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – redhead, cigarette, lighter; minor wear; a couple of minor nicks; faint diagonal crease to upper wrapper; a couple of marks, but overall a very good copy. No copy traced in any major library worldwide.

£75

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1950]. [Second? edition]. No earlier edition has been traced, but the book is evidently to some extent autobiographical and based on McKeag’s time in Germany in the early 1920s: an earlier edition is suspected, perhaps under another title.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 96pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; some wear and creasing; a few tiny chips; staples lightly rusted; a few spots and small flaws; a serviceable copy. No copy (of any edition) traced in any major library worldwide.

£50

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