H. W. PERL – BRITISH PULP FICTION AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : Curtis Warren, [ca.1951]. First edition. “I got a funny kind of a nose. I can smell dough a mile away. I can smell trouble, too. When I see the guy walk into my office in Chicago, I smell both ...” – “Nick Baroni” was a Curtis Warren house-name, first used by Frederick Tom Foden (1907-1982) and subsequently by various other writers.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (1),[ii],4-111,[i]pp – including horticultural advertisements for both Flexible Earth and British Bamboo Groves. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a soulful design by the always elegant H. W. Perl; some very minor wrinkling and creasing, with a single short nick; staples slightly rusted, with tiny spots of discolouration, but overall a very good copy. No copy located in any major UK library.

SOLD

London : Modern Fiction, [1946]. First edition. Simple but handsome farmworker led astray by forward hussies – well written and in places almost erotic, which is more than can be said for most of the Modern Fiction output. Buxton was the author of “Broken Liebestraum” (1944), “No Gentle Lady” (1949), etc.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (64)pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – combative and diaphanous woman in a design by H. W. Perl; rather worn, torn and frayed; cup mark on upper wrapper, tape repair to lower; staples rusting; some internal tears to gutter; an indifferent copy of a scarce title. The British Library has what is apparently a later edition with more pages, but no copies of this edition located in any major library worldwide.

£25

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London : Arthur Gray (Books), [1934]. First edition. “Who is she? Oh, come! You surely can’t tell me that you don’t know she’s the great Lulu Le Sainte?” – the lovely, famous and scandalous man-eater meets a confirmed woman-hater on a terrace in Monte Carlo. Inez Castello, author of half a dozen similar novels of the Bright-Young-Things period, was perhaps the London-born “actress” who took ship from Havana to New York under that name in 1920, but has otherwise eluded identification.
Crown 8vo (20cm). 256pp. Original blue cloth, lettered in black; cloth a little used and blotched; text a little marked and tanned, but a serviceable copy in the striking art-deco dust-jacket by H. W. Perl (1897-1952) – a little worn and slightly smudged, with repairs to folds – but complete and attractive still.

SOLD

London : Arthur Gray (Books), [1934]. First edition under this title. “When I first saw the yacht she was lying at anchor in Rushcutter’s Bay, Sydney Harbour” – a sharebroker yearns to return to the South Seas. Shanghaied on the yacht of the beautiful Virginia Mortimer, he is offered a thousand pounds to pilot the yacht on a secret mission. Originally published as “Paradise Island” in 1927, giving rise to a legal case concerning a contemporary book of the same title.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 254,[ii]pp. Original blue cloth, lettered in black; a few faint marks; edges and prelims a little spotted, but otherwise a very good copy in the striking original dust-jacket – unsigned but by H. W. Perl (1897-1952) – a little rubbed, nicked and slightly soiled, but still very good. Just a single copy (British Library) located in the major UK libraries.

SOLD

London : Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [ca.1946]. First edition. Nick and Joan come under rifle fire as they investigate a powerful speed launch on the Channel coast..
Crown 8vo (18cm). 80pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – man crawls after a leggy blonde and typical Perl-girl by H. W. Perl; some minor creasing and marking; pencil marks to upper wrapper; short tear to lower wrapper; staples rusting; text tanned, with one leaf much creased, but overall still a very good copy of a rare and fragile item. Not recorded on the Holland & Williams Hamilton checklist – and no copy traced in any major library worldwide.

SOLD

London : Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [1946]. First edition. Sixteen-year-old girl who knows boys can be bad, but not quite how bad, is acquitted of murder. Twenty years on, she writes down “what really went on that night in the luxurious room above the Bexton Burlesque Theatre”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (128)pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a handsome H. W. Perl redhead; slightly sunned; some very minor wear; a couple of faint creases; three tiny holes and some minute indentations to front wrapper; staples slightly rusted; a few slight spots to edges and last leaf, but still a very good copy of a scarce and fragile title. No copy located in any major library worldwide.

SOLD

London : Bear Hudson, 1945. First edition. Each time a certain point in the concert was reached, someone died. Red Benton and his whisky-loving accomplice Happy Harringay investigate. Bear Hudson No. 530.
Demy 8vo (22cm). 32pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a three colour design by H. W. Perl (1897-1952); some light wear and creasing; staples rusted; some internal creases and a few marks, but a good copy. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£20

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London : Mitre Press, [1944]. First edition. “What the dickens is it, you chaps?” – it’s Eustace Green turning up for his first day at Harcourt College in tight velvet and a frilly silk collar. Firth very much in Frank Richards mode.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (16pp). Original two-colour pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by H. W. Perl; staples rusted, with resultant damage; a few spots, but otherwise a good copy. Just two copies (Bodleian and British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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London : Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [1946]. First edition. One of just two known issues of this short-lived science fiction magazine – three stories – Firth’s “The Lords of Zorm” and “Laughter of the Gods”, the latter written under his “Earl Ellison” pseudonym, and “The Timeless Dimension” by “Rice Ackman”, almost certainly another Firth pseudonym.
Crown 4to (25cm). (48)pp. Frontispiece. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an extraordinary design by H. W. Perl; somewhat rubbed, worn and creased, with a couple of minor repairs to spine; staples rusted; title-page a touch dusty; text lightly tanned, with a few tiny nicks, but a reasonable copy of a scarce and fragile publication. Just two copies (Bodleian and Liverpool) located in major UK libraries.

£40

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London : Grant Hughes, [ca.1948]. First edition. “He first noticed her in Sylvester’s Restaurant in the Strand, where he had gone for dinner. She was not young and not old – she might have been anywhere between the ages of twenty-five and thirty – and she was beautiful” – but Lance Knight (The Knight) is more interested in her companion, a criminal beyond the reach of the law, because his hobby is meting out justice to the untouchable.
Crown 8vo (18cm). (64)pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by H. W. Perl; spine and edges smoke blackened; some wear at head; staples heavily rusted; a few marks, but the text largely unopened; a serviceable copy of a scarce book. No copy traced in any major library worldwide.

SOLD

London : Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), 1947. First edition. Newly found wealth, young love, deceiving men, arrest in Piccadilly Circus, and an act of questionable morality at the Chelsea Arts Ball. Firth in fine and rollicking form.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 194 (i.e.192)pp. Original blue boards, lettered in black; a touch sunned at tips, faint spine crease, but otherwise a very good copy in the charming dust-jacket by H. W. Perl (1897-1952) – rubbed, a little creased, price-clipped, chipped at head, tail and corners, with a larger (4 x 2.5cm) portion missing from rear panel and some nicks and short tears, but substantially complete and a rare and fragile survival.

£25

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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1949]. First edition. “Here, in a tale of romance in the underworld of New York, famous American ace crime reporter ‘Griff’ makes his début to British readers and tears aside the veil that cloaks the activities of the callous racketeers who batten on human frailties”. McKeag launches the highly successful “Griff” pseudonym, later used by a variety of other authors beside himself. Reporter Bill Truscott knows at once that the sight of high-stepper Susette Delaine sitting alone at the Regency Bar of the Ritz-Deauville can only mean trouble.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – H. W. Perl – Hyman Woolf Perlzweig (1897-1952) – and an enigmatic blonde; spine slightly worn and darkened; a little worn, creased, marked, nicked and chipped; ink markings to front wrapper; staples rusted; a few small internal flaws, but a reasonable copy of major introduction to the genre – the first of the “Griff” novels. Just a single copy (British Library) traced in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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London : Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [1946]. First edition. Wealthy young inventor summons together the best brains in the world to propose a new World Union – a pertinent and interesting science fiction title not listed by Harbottle & Holland.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (128)pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a stylish design by H. W. Perl; lacks spine; edges smoke blackened, with a few associated internal marks; staples rusted, but a serviceable copy of a scarce title. Just a single copy (Bodleian) located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

London : Hamilton & Co. (Stafford), [1946]. First edition. Tim Regan’s wife abandons him on the same day that the police are tipped off about his planned bank robbery – five years on he emerges from prison. A rather more literate text than the usual Hamilton fare.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 62,[ii]pp (the final advertisement leaf soliciting manuscripts for pulp publishers Grant Hughes). Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by H. W. Perl; spine chipped and frayed; rear cover and edges smoke blackened, with some light associated internal marking; staples rusted; text lightly tanned; a serviceable copy of an uncommon title. Just two copies (Bodleian & Cambridge) located in major libraries worldwide.

£25

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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1952]. First edition. “Waiting in Piccadilly Circus; waiting for what cynical Eros on his pedestal might send her, stands Jenny Stewart, cast by cruel turns of Fortune’s wheel into the company of fallen women ...”. The London night-club scene exposed as respectable Jenny falls prey to the procurers. Ramon Lacroix was a house name used, inter alia, by Ernest McKeag, Norman Lazenby, etc.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 64pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Hyman Perl (1897-1952); spine chipped at foot and with some lateral tears; some marking and creasing; a few leaves slightly chipped, without loss, but a good copy of a scarce and fragile item. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

London : Mellifont Press, [1934]. Second edition. Five Parisian mysteries – The Affair of the Blue Scarabs; The Clue of the Newspaper Paragraph; The Secret of the Gieboff Emerald; The Affair of the Avenue Malakoff, and The Holes in the Wall. Originally published by Hodder & Stoughton in 1920. Mellifont 252.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 64pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a lurid design by H. W. Perl; chipped at foot; large chip to upper wrapper and some scuffing to lower; some creasing and tanning, but a serviceable copy. Just a single copy (British Library) of this edition located in major libraries worldwide.

£15

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London : Arthur Gray (Books), [1934]. First edition. “At the end of an evening spent in the West End of London this man found his mind a complete blank as to the events of an hour of it, and he discovered in his possession, inexplicably, a parcel of diamonds that represented a fortune. How, where, and with whom, had he spent the mystery hour?” – Philip Granger is soon mixed up with Doc Summers, bland and ambassadorial king of crime (drawn from the life), but the beautiful Olive is intent on saving him.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (254),[ii]pp. Original orange cloth, lettered in black; small and faint band of discolouration at foot of spine; a few edge-spots; text lightly tanned; a couple of nicks and small flaws, but a good copy of an uncommon title – in the striking original dust-jacket by H. W. Perl (1897-1952) – the jacket a little worn, and lightly creased and sunned, with a few repaired splits and a tear, but complete and attractive still.

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London : Arthur Gray (Books), [1934]. First edition. “Someone once said that the parties in Hollywood sounded like school treats compared to those given by Maisie Bellamy” – film critic Peter Day knows everyone in the Elstree set – young Lucinda Carey does not. Conflicts between love and career, “the glamour of the film world; written with first-hand knowledge”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (250),[ii]pp. Original jade cloth, lettered in black; a few minor marks, but a very good copy in the striking dust-jacket by H. W. Perl (1897-1952) – a little sunned, label neatly removed, but very lightly used and bright and attractive. Just two copies (British Library and New York) located in the world’s major libraries.

£125

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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 : Modern Fiction, [ca.1942]. [Second edition]. Ian Desbro heads off to America to make his fortune – he can’t see it, but sophisticated Maud Lefroy doesn’t love him, while simple Nora Lorrimer does. A title originally published by the Federation Press in the mid-1920s, and later in about 1946 by the Lockers, but here with a distinctly passionless H. W. Perl cover in an unrecorded wartime edition from Edwin and Irene Turvey at their 1941-1943 North View Parade address in North London.
Crown 8vo (19cm). [96]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – blonde unimpressed by a man’s attentions in a design by H. W. Perl; an indifferent copy – worn, creased and chipped; lacking over an inch (3.5cm) at foot of spine; upper staple rusted; pencilled ownership inscriptions of a Mrs Pike; text subject to intermittent pale yellow staining and creased in places, but a serviceable copy of an extremely rare book. No copy of any edition located in any major library worldwide.

SOLD

London : Modern Fiction, [ca.1943]. First edition : the variant with the plain lower wrapper. The United Ladies’ Club of Chicago – Dynamite Doll, Slappy Sal (not to mention her husband Jelly the Fish), Velvet Vi, Reno Doreena – but Anna Toplitski craves the “sharp, puncturing kiss” of the hypodermic syringe. It has become apparent from the details of the May 1949 “passing off” High Court hearing before Mr Justice Romer, in which Fawcett and his publisher, Edwin Turvey, sued each other over the rights in the “Ben Sarto” name, that many of the Sarto titles were first published considerably earlier than has previously been supposed. Evidence produced at the trial over the surrender of rights in reprints suggests that the present title must have been in print prior at some time prior to the summer of 1944.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a typical H. W. Perl design of a blonde in clinging green; some very minor wear and creasing; a couple of short tears; the predominantly white wrappers lightly marked, with some faint splashing to lower wrapper; staples a little rusted, but overall a very good copy of a fragile production.

£50

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London : Modern Fiction, [ca.1943]. First edition : the variant with the plain lower wrapper. The United Ladies’ Club of Chicago – Dynamite Doll, Slappy Sal (not to mention her husband Jelly the Fish), Velvet Vi, Reno Doreena – but Anna Toplitski craves the “sharp, puncturing kiss” of the hypodermic syringe. It has become apparent from the details of the May 1949 “passing off” High Court hearing before Mr Justice Romer, in which Fawcett and his publisher, Edwin Turvey, sued each other over the rights in the “Ben Sarto” name, that many of the Sarto titles were first published considerably earlier than has previously been supposed. Evidence produced at the trial over the surrender of rights in reprints suggests that the present title must have been in print prior at some time prior to the summer of 1944.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a typical H. W. Perl design of a blonde in clinging green; a little worn, marked, and slightly creased; a couple of short tears; the predominantly white wrappers a little soiled; staples rusting; title-page creased, but a reasonable copy of a fragile production.

£40

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London : Modern Fiction, [1947]. First edition. A murder in the Otis Restaurant – a revenge killing by a strange young man.
Crown 8vo (18cm). (128)pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a typical H. W. Perl design; some minor wear and creasing; a few slight marks; staples rusting; text faintly tanned, but overall a very good copy of a scarce and fragile item. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£75

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London : Modern Fiction, [1947]. First edition. A murder in the Otis Restaurant – a revenge killing by a strange young man.
Crown 8vo (18cm). (128)pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a typical H. W. Perl design; some minor wear and creasing; lower wrapper lightly marked; text slightly tanned, but a very good copy. Stamps of Simonite’s Book Exchange Service of Cannock Market on first few leaves and (very faintly) on upper wrapper. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£75

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London : Modern Fiction, [1948]. First edition. Playing with his own name, Fawcett gives us cheapstore dressmaker Frank Driffield Tawfitt, who has taken a shine to the mysterious and alluring new partner in Manhattan’s Paradise Restaurant – Miss Otis has gone incognito.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 124,[iv]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – woman, gun, allure – a design by H. W. Perl; just a touch of wear to tips; a couple of tiny creases; staples rusted and discoloured, but otherwise a very good and clean copy. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£75

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London : Modern Fiction, [1948]. First edition. “These ‘spivs’, as they are named, have no identity cards, no ration books, no clothing or other coupons of legal acquisition. They are, in a civic sense, outlaws”. Post-war London memorably evoked as swell-looking “Yorkshire Alice”, popular with thieves and con-men, is knifed to death in a Soho alley. Correspondence from 1947 between Fawcett and his publisher, Edwin Turvey, reveals that the original manuscript was mislaid for a time, but that Fawcett was paid £33 for this “very good Sarto indeed” and Perl probably £5 for the cover.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a redhead in blue by H. W. Perl; slightly chipped and somewhat creased, with a few short nicks and tears; failed tape repair to front wrapper; text lightly tanned, but a reasonable copy of an uncommon title. Just a single copy (British Library) traced in major libraries worldwide.

£50

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London : Modern Fiction, [1949]. First edition. Prisoner nearing the end of his five-year sentence encounters a new prisoner – the man who killed his girlfriend. Revenge has to be exacted.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by H. W. Perl; some light wear and slight splitting; a few tiny nicks and chips; staples rusting; text lightly browned, but still a good copy. Just a single copy (British Library) traced in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

London : Mellifont Press, [1935]. First edition. Historical romance set at the time of the Civil War – Anthony St. Cloude aspires to the hand of the lovely Enid Derrer, the “Lilac Lady” of Essex. Mellifont 3129.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 160pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by H. W. Perl; wrappers a little creased; repaired tear to lower wrapper; slight adhesion damage to final leaf, but a good copy. Gift inscription dated February 1936 on title-page. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£25

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London : Modern Fiction, [1949]. First edition. Pretty secretary Claire Norton, orphaned in the war, sexually harassed from her last job, lands a new position with celebrated author “John Mallory” – who turns out to be a Joan Mallory, with a handsome artist nephew. Passport required for a new world of Biarritz, Cauterets, Pau and the Pyrenees.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 64pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an H. W. Perl blonde seemingly inspired by Marlene Dietrich; lightly rubbed; tiny chip at foot; 3cm chip to the slightly dusty rear wrapper, with the loss of a few letters; text lightly tanned, with some faint spotting to the outer leaves; but a good copy of an uncommon title. Just a single copy (British Library) traced in major libraries worldwide.

£50

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1950]. First edition. “Doris Devereaux tossed her shingled, blonde head defiantly and there was a look of obstinacy in her deep blue eyes. Doris was a remarkably pretty girl” – and she wanted to go on the stage. Her bachelor uncle and guardian, himself not averse to the company of actresses and chorus girls, raises objections. Published from Phoenix’s post-1949 Kennington Lane address.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 96pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an unsigned design by H. W. Perl; lightly rubbed and creased, with a couple of tiny chips; staples rusting; text a little tanned, but a good, solid copy of a scarce book. No copy located in any major library worldwide.

£40

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London : Phoenix Press, [ca.1946]. First edition. As they arrive in Paris, Madge Bradley rather regrets having become travelling companion to the fat, ugly, flashily-dressed, and intolerably rich widow, Mrs Brent. Published by Phoenix from their mid-1940s Deacon Street address.
Crown 8vo (19cm). [96]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – redhead, pink heels, wine and cigarettes – a typical design by H. W. Perl – Hyman Woolf Perlzweig (1897-1952); minor wear; some creasing; staples a touch rusted; text lightly tanned, but a very good copy of a very uncommon title. No copy of any edition located in major libraries worldwide.

£75

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London : Gramol Publications, [1933]. First edition : a variant with the Gypsy Dream Book advertisement (a design by H. W. Perl) on the lower wrapper. Maurice Lancaster returns from Saigon on the inheritance of his uncle’s estate – a beautiful young Canadian woman is in residence.
Crown 8vo (18cm). [96]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by H. W. Perl; some wear; wrappers creased; lower wrapper slightly torn and chipped; staples rusted; a reasonable copy. Only a single copy (British Library – a variant with a What the Stars Predict advertisement on the lower wrapper) traced in major libraries worldwide. Pencilled ownership inscription of E. Canto on first leaf.

£40

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