Terry and the Pirates

A bright and exciting sixteen issues of 'Terry and the Pirates' have been listed this week, each issue having been bound with the original colourful wraps. This comic series first appeared in 1934 and ran until 1973; our copies are from between 1948 and 1959. Terry Lee, the protagonist, was a teenager at the start of the series, however he ages, joining the U.S. Army when they joined the Second World War. This became the primary focus of the strip during wartime, and following the war, Terry worked for the government. They were extremely popular in America during the 1930s and 1940s.

Success: Three Years in the Life of a Province

We have added a brilliant fictionalised account of the fate of the Nazi Party, published just three years before Hitler seized power and nine years before the outbreak of war. The author, Lion Feuchtwanger, was persecuted following Hitler becoming Chancellor on account of this work and managed to find asylum in the United States of America; he had been producing anti-Nazi propaganda as early as 1920 and had books burned in the 10th May 1933 mass burnings. This work is set contemporarily during the time of inflation in Germany during the 1920s. Our copy is the first British edition, complete with an excellent dust wrapper, and makes for an exciting addition to any collection.

My Perilous Life in Palestine

A fascinating autobiography has also been added to our library recently. Narrated by Mrs. Rosamond Dale Owen Oliphant Templeton, a traveller and philosopher best known for laying claim to thirteen acres of Tell el-Mutesellim, also known as Armageddon. Published in 1928, this is a particularly scarce work and describes the author's encounters and experiences in Palestine as a Western woman in the early twentieth century. She was the granddaughter of Robert Dale Owen, an unsuccessful founder of a utopia, and her husband Laurence Oliphant held equally utopian values. After he perished just months into the marriage, she spent many years managing his affairs and Utopian plans. A remarkable insight into the life of the woman who owned Armageddon.

Nouveaux Contes Cruels

The originator of the 'conte cruel' genre, a first edition of Auguste de Villier's collection of horror tales. Appearing in France in 1888, it is an important and romantically written collection of horror tales, in a style later adopted by Roald Dahl for his 'Tales of the Unexpected'. Scarcely found in the original wraps, this first edition is in French and a key component of the genre.

Lectures of Physiology, Zoology and the Natural History of Man

We've thoroughly enjoyed poring over the anatomical illustrations of Sir William Lawrence's work, published in 1819. It comprises a selection of Lawrence's anatomical essays, and proved to be controversial upon its release due to its contradiction of Biblical values. Interestingly, according to the OED, Lawrence was the first person to use the term 'biology' in the English language, in this work. Our copy of this important surgical collection is bound in a smart calf binding, and illustrated with eerie folding plates.