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

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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Cleveland : Kaywin Publishers, (1951). First American edition. “Love, luxury, and lust in Latin America” – the white slave trade exposed. Originally published by Archer in the UK in 1950.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a saucy trio of chorus girls from Reginald Heade; small chip at head; repairs to spine splits; some light wear; small corner chip to front wrapper; larger chip to back wrapper, but overall still a good copy. No copy of this edition traced in any major library worldwide.

£40

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London : Federation Press, (1926). First edition. Although better known in the Archer Press edition of 1949 with its Reginald Heade cover (almost universally regarded as the first edition), this early Vane – “the most daring exposure ever written of the world’s wickedest city” – has a much longer history. The Federation Press, already here operating from Gramol House, later became the Gramol Press under the direction of Arthur Gray and Frederick Mowl – both of whom later suffered imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs for transgressing the bounds of pre-war public decency with their racy publications. The lure of Montmartre, among the Apaches, black women and white men, gambling dens, tempting English girlhood, and more.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 160pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – exotic dancer, sophisticated audience; lightly worn at extremities; a little creased; small chip and short tear to lower wrapper; text lightly tanned; small hole to half-title, but a good copy of a scarce and fragile item. Just a single copy of this edition (University of South Carolina) located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

Stoke-on-Trent : Archer Press, [1949]. Second edition of an early Vane, first published in 1926. “The most daring exposure ever written of the world’s wickedest city” – the lure of Montmartre, among the Apaches, black women and white men, gambling dens, tempting English girlhood, and more.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an unsigned design apparently by Reginald Heade; some very minor wear; slight corner crease; , a tiny nick and a few faint creases; a few edge spots; a few edge spots; rear wrapper slightly spotted at one edge; one staple partly rusted, but overall a very good copy. Just two copies of this edition (Bodleian and British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 40606 – or simply click on the button

Stoke-on-Trent : Archer Press, [1949]. Second edition of an early Vane, first published in 1926. “The most daring exposure ever written of the world’s wickedest city” – the lure of Montmartre, among the Apaches, black women and white men, gambling dens, tempting English girlhood, and more.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – an unsigned design apparently by Reginald Heade; some very minor wear, a tiny nick and a few faint creases; a few edge spots; one staple a little rusted, but overall a very good copy. Just two copies of this edition (Bodleian and British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£25

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New York : Leisure Library, (1952). First edition. Juvenile delinquency, good time girls, “the first false step which places her virtue in jeopardy”. Subsequently published by Archer in the UK in 1953.
Foolscap 4to (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a roadside redhead from Reginald Heade; just a hint of wear; staples rusting, but overall a very good copy. No copy of this edition traced in any major library worldwide.

SOLD

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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Cleveland : Kaywin Publishers, (1951). First American edition. June and Lorna share a London flat – Lorna shameless and mercenary, her sister quite the reverse – “sinister side-streets of Soho and the garish glamour of London night clubs”. Originally published by Archer in the UK the previous year. Archer Book 52.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – Reginald Heade in top form; spine lightly discoloured in a couple of places; minor creasing to upper wrapper; a touch of rust to the staples, but still a very good copy. Just a single copy (Bowling Green) of this edition located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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Stoke-on-Trent : Archer Press, (1950). First edition. “After what you have done to me ... kill me!” is the teaser tag on the cover – a torrid tale of girlish indiscretion, marital disillusion, passion and deceit. “The wages of sin are sometimes even worse than death” sententiously adds the back cover. Somewhat incongruously set in a respectable London suburb – Wimbledon, I think, from memory (McKeag was living in Clapham at the time) – but this versatile author in top form, abetted by a sensational cover-design by Reginald Heade (1901-1957), finest of all the pulp-artists – and one of his very best.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; American price over-printed on upper wrapper; “Printed in England” stamp on title and copyright sticker on verso; a few faint signs of age; text a touch tanned, but a very good copy of a scarce and fragile item. Just two copies (British Library and Trinity College, Dublin) located in major libraries worldwide.

£125

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Cleveland : Kaywin Publishers, (1951). First American edition. “Get that muck scrubbed off your face and take those glad rags off. I’m not having any of my daughters roaming the streets at this time of Night” – innocent young woman caught up in a “vast vortex of vice”. Originally published by Archer in the UK the previous year. Archer Book 35.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – sex, drugs and probably rock-and-roll from Reginald Heade in one of his best-known designs; slight wear at extremities; short split at head; minor creasing; some faint marking to lower wrapper, but overall still a very good copy. Just a single copy (NYPL) of this edition located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

Stoke-on-Trent : Archer Press, (1950). [Second edition]. Ostensibly a second reprint of the original 1949 edition, but this edition has 128pp – the original edition only 96pp.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Reginald Heade; slight wear at head; small patch of discolouration at foot; American price over-printed on upper wrapper; “Printed in England” stamp on title; a few faint marks and creases; text a little tanned, but overall a very good and still crisp copy. No copy of this edition located in any major library worldwide.

SOLD

Stoke-on-Trent : Archer Press, [1952]. First edition. “Joan, like most modern young women of the post-war period, was a fully self-assured young person, ambitious, and full of belief in herself to achieve her ambitions” – Peter’s rather a dear, but doesn’t quite get it.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Reginald Heade; American price over-printed on upper wrapper; “Printed in England” stamp on title and copyright sticker (misleadingly dated 1950) on verso; a little wear at foot; spine a little tanned; a few nicks to lower wrapper; a few minor marks and slight creases; text a touch tanned, but a good copy. Just three copies (Bodleian, British Library, and Trinity College, Dublin) located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

Stoke-on-Trent : Archer Press, (1949). First edition. Muriel surveys Paris from the top of the Arc de Triomphe – “She was undeniably pretty, with her strangely bluey-greenish eyes that looked out so bewitchingly from beneath long, curving lashes; the wealth of auburn hair that cascaded like a fountain of flame over her shoulders ...”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original stapled pictorial wrappers – a man implores a haughty Muriel; a little rust to the staples; a few slight creases; text very slightly tanned, but overall a very good copy of an uncommon title. Just two copies (Bodleian and British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD