THE UTTERMOST FARTHING: A SAVANT'S VENDETTA
Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1914. First Edition. An early Freeman mystery featuring Humphrey Challoner, a specialist in criminal anthropology, who after the murder of his wife dedicates his life to the apprehension and punishment of criminals (and by "apprehension and punishment" I mean he murders them, shrinks their heads, and displays them as trophies in his private museum). The American Edition precedes the UK edition, published under the title A Savant's Vendetta, by six years. Scarce in dustjacket. Hubin, p.153. Item #4294
First Printing. Octavo (20cm); red cloth, with titling and decorations stamped in gilt on spine and front cover; dustjacket; [4],5-296pp, with frontispiece and three inserted plates illustrated by H. Weston Taylor. Spine ends gently nudged, hint of dustiness and a few tiny foxed spots to text edges, with contemporary owners name and a tiny stain to front endpaper, and a tiny date rubber-stamped to verso of frontispiece (Feb, 1918); Near Fine, with the pictorial elements bright and entirely unrubbed. Dustjacket is gently spine-sunned, lightly edgeworn, with a few shallow losses to spine ends and two corners (none affecting lettering), a few small splash marks, and a few tears with some attendant creasing to upper front panel; Very Good+.
Price: $2,500.00