PETER CHEYNEY FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : Collins, 1944. First edition. A Slim Callaghan tale – Mlle Juliette de Longues can speak so much basic English with her eyes she can afford to be dumb – but she is good. Irana Favely knows she is good. Paula Denys doesn’t care if she’s good.
Crown 8vo (20cm). 192pp. Original sand cloth, blocked and lettered in green; just a touch bruised, but a very good copy in the dust-jacket – lightly worn and nicked, slightly creased, but complete and attractive still. Neat contemporary ownership inscription.

SOLD

London : Collins, 1944. First edition. An early Cheyney “dark” novel of counter-espionage – the all-wise Quayle, Shaun O’Mara, Ricky Kerr – “The women, of course, dress superbly, move like angels, are as beautiful as diamonds and, with one notable exception, behave abominably”.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (192)pp. Original sand cloth, lettered in green; a touch bruised; a few edge-spots, but a very good and sound copy in the original atmospheric pictorial dust-jacket – ruby-lipped brunette in green stares us down – lightly used, with a few short nicks, but also very good.

£25

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London : Collins, 1944. First edition. “The women, of course, dress superbly, move like angels, are as beautiful as diamonds and, with one notable exception, behave abominably”. An early Cheyney “dark” novel of counter-espionage.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (192)pp. Original sand cloth, lettered in green; a touch bruised; a few edge-spots, but a very good and sound copy in the original atmospheric pictorial dust-jacket – ruby-lipped brunette in green stares us down – lightly rubbed and just very slightly worn at head. Contemporary (1944) gift inscription.

£25

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 41344 – or simply click on the button

London : Collins, 1945. First edition. Lemmy Caution is now attached to U. S. Army Intelligence in Paris – “We watch him track an enemy agent, first across Paris, then through the glades of Surrey. The scene is rich with dames, james, babies, mommas and frails; and this guy or bozo Confucius does not fail to inspire” (Elizabeth Bowen in The Tatler, 12th December 1945).
Crown 8vo (20cm). 192pp. Original sand cloth, lettered in green; just a hint of bruising, but a very good and sound copy in the pictorial dust-jacket – the jacket with a few faint marks, but only minimal wear, and also very good.

£50

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Henfield : Poynings Press, (1945). First edition. We begin with a gentleman with nerves – and move on to the girl with a gun. The Silver Ring Club, Bruton Street, Berkeley Square, Regent Street and London in the rain.
Demy 8vo (22cm). (68)pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a stylish design by RMS; lightly rubbed and a touch faded; staples a little rusted, but a good copy of a scarce and fragile item. Just a single copy (British Library) located in the world’s major libraries.

SOLD

London : Collins, 1946. First edition. Rene Berg, ex-Chicago gunman, awakens in a German concentration camp. His greatest moment awaits. “Quite the best book of his career ... the story of a Chicago gunman of Prohibition days, turned patriot and intelligence man ... Even Mr. Cheyney’s style, usually as staccato as a sawn-off machine-gun in action, has been considerably smoothened, without any noticeable loss of pace. It is as if he now used a silencer” (The Sphere, 23rd March 1946).
Crown 8vo (20cm). 192pp. Original sand cloth, lettered in green; some spotting to edges and endpapers, but a very good copy in the dust-jacket – lightly worn, and with a couple of minor scuffs and a little dustiness to the lower panel.

£25

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London : Polybooks, (1946). First edition. “Date after Dark”, which opens in a London air-raid, and three further stories, all featuring Slim Callaghan.
Foolscap 8vo (17cm). 62,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design in green, pink and black by Reina Mary Sington (1924-2000); some wear and creasing; wrappers a little soiled; staples rusted, but a good copy of a scarce and fragile item. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

Henfield : Poynings Press, (1946). First edition. Lemmy Caution comes to London in pursuit of Esmeralda Vandellin, but needs help from Scotland Yard.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 122pp. Original maroon boards, lettered in yellow; boards rubbed, chipped and worn, but a serviceable copy in the striking dust-jacket by Reina Mary Sington (Reina Bull) (1924-2000) – the jacket worn, chipped and missing an inch at the head of the rear panel, but a welcome survival.

£25

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 45267 – or simply click on the button

London : Bantam Books (Todd Publishing Group), (1947). First edition. “Peter Cheyney’s knowledge of the night haunts of London is extensive and has provided him with the material ...” – a collection of six short stories, including “The Peacock Fan” and “The Black Mantilla”.
Foolscap 8vo (17cm). 64pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Winslade; staples a little rusted; wrappers slightly rubbed and with some slight nicking and creasing; lower wrapper lightly marked, but good copy of a scarce book. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

London : Collins, 1947. First edition. A new private detective in Caryl Wylde O’Hara – and the story of Leonora Ivory, Alexis Ricaud and his heroin-addicted wife, Esmeralda, etc. “A perfect case, probably the most perfect case that Mr. Cheyney, with as good an eye for a pretty plot as for a pretty woman, has ever devised”. Set mainly in London, with excursions to Maidenhead, the Sussex coast and Torquay.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (192)pp. Original sand cloth, lettered in green; a very good copy in the original pictorial Winslade dust-jacket – frightened brunette in long white gown and gloves – complete if a little worn, torn and creased, with some taped repairs.

£20

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London : Bantam Books, (1948). First edition. The title story, featuring Slim Callaghan, and three further stories culled from earlier collections – “You Can’t Hit a Woman”; “A Set-Up for Psychology”, and “Death in the Lift” (wrongly headed “Death in the Boat” in the text).
Crown 8vo (19cm). 48pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a stylish design by C. Macdonald; lightly worn and slightly marked; a couple of tiny nicks; staples rusting, but a good copy of an uncommon book. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

London : Bantam Books, [1948]. First edition. Six short stories, featuring inter alia the Palmont platinum case, Slim Callaghan, and a gigolo standing on the corner of Brook Street and Bond Street.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 48pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a breezy design by Reina Mary Sington (1924-2000); a little rubbed and slightly worn; small mark to fore-edge; staples rusted, but a good copy still. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

London : Collins, 1948. First edition. One of Cheyney’s “Dark” series, with Everard Peter Quayle, “that poker-faced and most secretive of secret agents”, Vincente Callao, fashionable dance-band leader, the lovely Aurora Francis, and the enigmatic Antoinette Brown.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (192)pp. Original sand cloth, lettered in green; edges spotted, but otherwise a very good copy in the original pictorial dust-jacket – the jacket lightly worn, slightly creased, with a couple of nicks and a short tear.

£20

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 43832 – or simply click on the button

London : Collins, 1949. First edition. Johnny Vallon is a tough egg, just returned from war service in the east to team up with Chennault’s Investigations of Long Acre. It begins with a Bacardi and a woman wearing Narcisse Noir perfume – and then Joe Chennault is found dead. “Peter Cheyney is at his very best ... a haze of chiffon blouses, sheer stockings, sweeping dinner-gowns, exotic perfumes, several thousand miles of high-speed night-driving, chain-smoking, sleeplessness, Bacardi, whisky, double-crossing and wise-cracks” (The Tatler, 20th April 1949).
Crown 8vo (20cm). (192)pp. Original sand cloth, lettered in green; edges spotted, but otherwise a very good and sound copy in the original pictorial dust-jacket – the jacket just lightly worn and slightly creased.

£20

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 43836 – or simply click on the button

London : Collins, 1949. First edition. Irish private enquiry agent, Terence O’Day – an afternoon at Plumpton Races – a tip about a horse, and another about a woman – the very beautiful and very dangerous Merys Vanner.
Crown 8vo (20cm). (256)pp. Original sand cloth, lettered in green; edges spotted, but otherwise a very good and sound copy in the original pictorial dust-jacket – men appraise blonde at bar – the jacket just lightly worn, slightly nicked, and a little spotted on the verso.

SOLD

London : Collins, 1951. First edition. “She was standing under the awning outside Maxime in the Rue Royale, young, beautiful, English, a woman of extraordinary grace and strange allure ... Kells never saw her again – alive”.
Crown 8vo (20cm). 252,[iv]pp. Original maroon boards, lettered in silver; a few spots; a few tiny creases; mild tanning of endpapers, but otherwise a very good and sound copy in the original pictorial dust-jacket – price-clipped by the publisher, with an over-printed 6/- price, just lightly worn and slightly nicked.

SOLD