Sadler, Adam. Red Ending. London and Melbourne: Ward, Lock & Co., Limited, 1928. First edition. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-314 [315-320: publisher's ads]. Original red cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. Faint pencil sketch on front free endpaper. Very slight hint of fading to spine panel, rear free endpaper removed, still generally a very good copy of a rather scarce book. #3347. $45. Novel of international intrigue, adventure and future war, set partly in England and partly in Central Asia near India where a rogue Russian, Rakovsky, has assembled an army of foreign mercenaries to try to take India from the British. The style is partly Buchanesque, with a semi-amateur hero Jim Marsh entering the fray to save the empire's crown jewel. Jim is a born adventurer and admirably loyal to his own crew of international fighters, utterly indifferent to such things as race and social class. After severe shell shock in the war, he had married his nurse, a high-society beauty who does not like or even understand her husband's true nature. This friction introduces a darker and ultimately tragic note into the story, putting it on a dramatic trajectory not likely to be found in Buchan. A likeable feature here is that the story is narrated by Marsh's friend and neighbor, a middle-aged gentleman who is a thoroughly stay-at-home, indoorsy type with a bit of money, no sex appeal and no thirst for danger -- but he acknowledges all this. The broad arc of the story is a continuation of "The Great Game" contest in the 19th century between Russia and Great Britain for influence in Central Asia. The author's story comes across in hindsight as an exaggerated wish-fulfillment fantasy about the power of Britain, hampered by a dismissive attitude towards Russia, a blindness to the festering political energies in Germany, and no inkling of the economic storm about to break out across the world. A hint of the supernatural is introduced via the figure of Fanny, a gypsy in England who lives near Marsh. She is treated respectfully by March and is given to dark prophetic utterances, which turn out to carry some weight. Clarke, Tale of the Future, p. 56. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War, p. 238. Bestandsnummer des Verk�ufers 3347

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Bibliografische Details

Titel: Red Ending

Verlag: Ward, Lock, London

Erscheinungsdatum: 1928

Einband: Hardback

Zustand: Very Good

Zustand des Schutzumschlags: No Jacket

Auflage: First Edition.

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When I began my bookselling business in 1996 I called it "Eldritch Books" because that adjective at least partly covered the type of material I offered (and because its similarity to my own surname seemed so -- eldritch). "Ghost stories" would be another handy, if somewhat reductive, term. Most of it is fiction from the 19th and early 20th century with a strong emphasis on the fantastic. Since the most familiar and relevant genre terms in use today -- "science fiction," "fantasy," "supernatural," "horror" -- were not so much in use when these books were first published, pegging them that way can be anachronistic. But that should give you the general idea. I don't have much in the way of American pulp (either in magazine or specialty press book form) but otherwise my interests range widely from high-brow to middle-brow to low-brow to amateur/eccentric. You're more likely to find rare and obscure works here than high spots. (Or at least they're obscure now, whatever their status was when first published.) In 2001 I went to work for L. W. Currey as cataloguer and general assistant. Since 2014 I've been back working on my own. I have exhibited at convention fairs (such as WFC and Readercon) in the past. I began collecting and studying antiquarian fantasy around 1980. Some of my essays have appeared in genre publications such as NYRSF, Wormwood and F&SF. I tend to carefully research my inventory and write extensive notes. (If another dealer wishes to make use of any of these notes, I'd appreciate the courtesy of putting such excerpts in quotes and giving proper attribution to me. That's what I do when I quote from any of my reference works.) I will be gradually listing my inventory on ABE over the coming years. I hope you find something of interest.

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Robert Eldridge, Bookseller
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