THE BEETLE. A Mystery.

Ninth impression of the 1897 first edition. Publisher's original red cloth with an illustration of The Beetle in black and green and titles in black and gilt to the upper board, and titles in black and gilt to the spine. Illustrated with a tissue guarded frontispiece and three further full page black and white plates by John Williamson. Single page of publisher's adverts at the rear. A very good copy, the binding firm with rubbing and bumping to the extremities, the cloth with a few minor marks and some fading to the slightly rolled spine. The contents, with a previous owner's name in pencil, and a Christmas 1905 gift inscription in ink to the half title, are otherwise clean with just the odd finger mark or isolated foxing spot to the margins.

An early supernatural mystery novel, first published in the same year as Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' and, like 'Dracula', developing a vein of gothic terror first popularised by Ann Radcliffe's 'The Mysteries of Udolpho' and later by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'.