Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Masterman, J.C.. An Oxford Tragedy. Victor Gollancz Ltd, London, 1933.
Price: US$160.95 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 1933. First edition. 286pp. John Cecil Masterman (1891-1977) was a noted academic, sportsman and author. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford and also chairman of the Twenty Committee, which during the Second World War ran the Double-Cross System, controlling double agents in Britain. An Oxford Tragedy is his first novel. Set in the fictional Oxford college of St. Thomas's, it was written in the point of view of an Oxford don named Francis Wheatley Winn, who was Senior Tutor at St. Thomas'. He served as Watson to the novel's Sherlock Holmes, an amateur sleuth named Ernst Brendel, a Viennese lawyer "of European reputation". In the novel, Brendel delivers a series of lectures to the Law Faculty. He had a good reputation as a detective with the quality of "a man to whom secrets will be confided". When an unpopular tutor was found shot in the Dean's rooms, he took it upon himself to solve the crime, and the murderer thus exposed committed suicide. The novel itself was unusual for its time in providing an account of how murder affects the tranquil existence of Oxford dons. While it was a variation of the old theme of evil deeds done in a tranquil setting, it did establish the tradition of Oxford-based crime fiction, notably in the works of Michael Innes and Edmund Crispin. The book is bound in the original black cloth covered boards with red titling on the spine. The case of the book is in very good condition with shelf wear and some light soiling on the boards. The cloth on the corner tips is worn and the spine ends are bumped and the spine is slightly cocked. There is some fading down about 1" of the fore edge and on about 1/2" of the bottom edge of the front board with fading on about 1/2" of the top and fore edge of the rear board. The contents are tight and clean with partially repaired splitting down the spine gutter of the rear endpapers. There is no inscription.
Seller: Edinburgh Books, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
MASTERMAN, J.C.. An Oxford tragedy. Victor Gollancz, 1933.
Price: US$196.82 + shipping
Description: 1st edition, 1st issue, in black cloth with red title on spine. Hinges cracked & repaired; page fore-edge a little yellowed & foxed; some wear to cloth, particularly at board corners & on spine Used - Good. Good hardback (no dust jacket)
Seller: Cotswold Internet Books, Cheltenham, United Kingdom
Masterman, J.C.. An Oxford Tragedy. Victor Gollancz, London, 1933.
Price: US$206.25 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 16mo - over 5¾ - 6¾" tall. Orig. black cloth. 286 pp. Spine cocked. Chafing to extremities. Interior age toned. Offsetting to ffep, foxing to rear endpapers. Facsimile dust jacket. A detective story but something much more: a portrait gallery of dons, depicted with the driest wit, and a delightful evocation of the Oxford atmosphere. The author is an Oxford don.
Seller: Minotavros Books, ABAC ILAB, Whitby, ON, Canada
Masterman, J. C.. An Oxford Tragedy.. Victor Gollancz, London, 1933.
Price: US$289.72 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: First edition, 8vo., [i-vi]+[7]8-286pp., owner inscribed in pencil '. 11/4/34', original black cloth, spine lettered in red, hinges split, spine loose, worn, frayed, front free endpaper browned, otherwise contents very good. No copy on the net and 3 in Copac - NLS, BL, Oxford, a rare first edition. Masterman (1891-1977) noted academic, sportsman & author, Tutor of Modern History in Christ Church and later Provost of Worcester College (1946-1961) and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University from 1957-1958. Knighted in 1959. Best known as Chairman of the Twenty Committee which during WWII ran the Double Cross System, the ingenious scheme that controlled double agents in Britain. In 1933 he wrote a murder mystery novel entitled 'An Oxford Tragedy' set in the fictional Oxford College of St. Thomas . An unpopular tutor was found shot in the Dean's rooms and the hero takes it upon himself to solve the crime - the murderer exposed. The novel itself was quite unusual for its time in providing an account of how murder affects the tranquil existence of Oxford Dons. It established the tradition of Oxford based crime fiction, notably in the works of Michael Innes and Edmund Crispin [Wikipedia].
Seller: Offa's Dyke Books, LUDLOW, SALOP, United Kingdom