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London : Edwin Self & Co., [ca.1951]. First edition. “I felt like something had gone wrong with my breath. No dame had ever got me that way before ...”. An early Pete Costello title, with Edwin Self operating from his earlier Grays Inn Road address. The Costello house-name was used by a number of Self’s stable of writers, including George Bell and Frederick Foden.
Crown 8vo (19cm). (5)-116pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – blonde in blue casts an appraising eye; mild tanning of text and faint rusting of staples, but a very good copy of a scarce title. No copy located in any major library worldwide.

SOLD

London : Edwin Self & Co., [ca.1951]. First edition. The sultry Maria Stanmore – “Sultry? You wouldn’t find a hotter dame anywhere ... not this side of hell” – turns her attentions to New York vice cop Johnny Hendrick. It does not end well. An early Pete Costello title, with publisher Edwin Self operating from his earlier Grays Inn Road address. The Costello house-name was used by a number of Self’s stable of writers, including George Bell and Frederick Foden.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – Maria does sultry in blue; somewhat worn and creased, with a few short tears; corner chipped from rear wrapper, with the loss of a couple of letters; staples rusted; some spotting of edges; a serviceable copy of a rare title. No copy located in any major library worldwide.

£50

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London : Edwin Self & Co., [ca.1952]. First edition. Sinuous mystery woman shoots flabby man: “That murder had been building up for a long time, and was never solved – officially. I could tell you something about it. I'll start at the beginning...”. An early Pete Costello title, with Edwin Self operating from his earlier Grays Inn Road address. The Costello house-name was used by a number of Self’s stable of writers, including George Bell and Frederick Foden.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – redhead quietly smoulders; some trifling wear and wrinkling; shallow fringe of light spotting to outer edge of upper wrapper; a few edge spots; traces of rust to staples; a few minor production flaws to corners, but overall a very good copy of a scarce title. No copy located in any major library worldwide.

SOLD

London : Edwin Self & Co., [1953]. First edition. Minx, mink and murder. This was one of the five Edwin Self titles seized in a police raid on a shop in Maidstone in November 1953. Self was jailed for nine months on obscenity charges the following year, while the book’s author, George Bell, received six months. The fact that Bell was a school-teacher, a father of three, and a youth-club leader, caused something of a furore in the press at the time. Difficult to see now what the fuss was all about: we might legitimately complain about the sexism (although in this case two of the women end up pretty well empowered), but hardly the virtually non-existent sex.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – “as sleek as a cat – and as dangerous as a tiger”; light rubbing and creasing; slight nick to spine; a touch of rusting to staples; a few faint marks and spots, but overall a very good copy. No copy located in any major library worldwide.

SOLD