WHITECHURCH, Victor L. (1868-1933). Thrilling Stories of the Railway. London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1912.

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WHITECHURCH, Victor L. (1868-1933). Thrilling Stories of the Railway. London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1912.

8o. Half-title incorporating publisher's advertisement, 6-pages publisher's advertisement at end. (Light browning as usual.) Early 20th-century quarter pebbled calf, marbled boards, front cover with separate sheet pasted on with pencilled title (front endleaf loose, inner hinges weak); quarter morocco slipcase. Provenance: Florence and Edward Kaye (bookplate in slipcase chemise).

FIRST EDITION. The protagonist "is a fanatical devotee of vegetarianism and setting-up excercises; more significantly historically, he is the earliest short-story specialist in railway detection, antedating by four months Francis Lynde's Scientific Sprague" (Queen's Quorum 51). Scarce: no copies appear in ABPC in the last quarter century. Queen, The Detective Short Story, p.115 ("an important book").

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