AN AFRICAN MILLIONAIRE.
New York: Edward Arnold, 70 Fifth Avenue, 1897. First American Edition. Octavo, original red cloth lettered in gilt with black rules on spine and front panel. [1-vii], viii, [1], 2-317, [318-blank], 16 page catalogue of Edward Arnold's Publications bound in at rear. The catalogue lists Wells' THIRTY STRANGE STORIES (also Arnold, 1897) but does not list this title. With 66 lovely pen-and-ink illustrations by "G.B." (Gordon Browne) within the text. zprinted at the University Press, Cambridge, USA. Ink name of John Hall Bowman, dated 1897, on front free endpaper, small discreet name stamp of a later owner to front endpaper and to top and bottom edges of the text block (these exterior stampings are faint); light wear to the cloth at base of spine panel, spine very lightly tanned. A very nice, sound Very Good copy. RARE. There are no copies of this American Edition listed for sale within the trade, but more to the point all copies listed in Worldcat (save one!) are electronic copies made from the one real copy housed in the Edith and Lorne Pierce Collection of Canadiana at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. The UK Edition (London: Grant Richards) is relatively common compared to this US edition, which quite possibly precedes. Item #314230
¶ A Queen's Quorum title. Widely regarded as the first book to feature a leading criminal protagonist, AN AFRICAN MILLIONAIRE is a series of connected stories concerning the "illustrious" Colonel Clay, a swindler, thief and master of disguise. "Grant Allen (Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen) was born in 1848 at Alwington, near Kingston, Canada West (now part of Ontario).
Price (CAD): $500.00