Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Francis Iles ( Anthony Berkeley). Malice Aforethought. Mundanus, Victor Gollancz, London, 1931.
Price: US$23.09 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: Mundanus softcover, first edition. Page edges tanned, front cover almost detached. Some damage to spine. Contents otherwise good with no other stains or inscriptions.
Seller: Johnston's Arran Bookroom, Isle of Arran, United Kingdom
Iles, Francis. Malice Aforethought. Mundanus Ltd/Victor Gollancz Publisher, London UK, 1931.
Price: US$28.22 + shipping
Condition: Poor
Description: 288 pages. Paperback VERY SHABBY with both covers present but detached with some foxing to surfaces, brown tape to inner opening edges which is falling off, spine covering MISSING showing binding. Page-edges yellowed with a light liquid stain 2cm up from bottom of opening edge. Page-margins yellowed, pages fairly clean and stitched binding seems to be holding adequately.
Seller: Sarah Zaluckyj, KINGTON, United Kingdom
ILES FRANCIS. Malice Aforethought - The story of a Commonplace Crime. London, 1931.
Price: US$128.28 + shipping
Description: (Mundanus/Victor Gollancz 1931). Publisher's yellow paper covers, lettered black on spine and front cover with a red detail. Wear to cover which is stained and discoloured in places. Front hinge starting. Some surface loss to the bottom inch or so of the spine (although publisher name still just present). Pages very browned and marked in places. A cheap production this is a G+ copy of a book that seldom appears in nice condition. The first appearance of this Golden Age classic. Mundanus was a short-lived imprint of Gollancz "Formed to publish new full-length novels in paper covers". The author is better known as A B Cox or Anthony Berkeley.
Seller: James M Pickard, ABA, ILAB, PBFA., LEICESTER, United Kingdom
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition. Pseudonym of Anthony Berkeley Cox, who also wrote as Anthony Berkeley. Original published yellow wrappers. Very good copy housed in a cloth clamshell case with titles stamped in gold gilt on a leather label affixed to the spine. With this book, considered to be his masterpiece, it is clear from the first page that Dr. Edmund Bickleigh intends to murder his wife. He is a long-suffering husband whose snobbish wife, Julia, has tormented him for years, while he has indulged in fantasies about and even flirtations with other women. Bickleigh is smitten by one, the beautiful heiress Madeleine Cranmere, and begins an affair with her. Though Bickleigh has hopes of obtaining a divorce from his shrewish wife, Madeleine says she could never marry a divorced man. In Bickleigh's twisted mind, that leaves him with only one possible course of action, if he still wants Madeleine: He must murder his wife to avoid a divorce. This book created a sensation when it revolutionized the mystery genre by revealing the identity of the killer from the start, then generating suspense by making readers wonder if he could get away with his clever crime.
Seller: BUCKINGHAM BOOKS, ABAA, ILAB, IOBA, GREENCASTLE, PA, U.S.A.
Price: US$3335.18 + shipping
Description: A very scarce, first hardback issue of this important 'inverted detective story'. Written by Anthony Berkeley Cox under the pen name Francis Iles. The first edition of this scarce crime fiction novel written by Anthony Berkeley Cox. The murderer's identity is revealed in the first line of the novel, which provides the reader with insights into the workings of the murderer's mind as his plans progress. Cox loosely based this novel on the real-life case of Herbert Armstrong and includes elements of Doctor Crippen.Issued under the Gollancz imprint of 'Mundanus' which they produced as a 3/- paperback series in an attempt to initiate a paperback revolution. This hardback edition was published simultaneously with the wrappers issue, as was a library issue. Copies of the hardback edition are extremely scarce.An extremely scarce copy of this important novel. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, very smart. A few light marks to the boards. Bumping to the head and tail of spine. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright. Scattered spotting to the fore-edge, and heavy spots to the first and last few pages. Otherwise, occasional light spots. Very Good Indeed
Seller: Rooke Books PBFA, Bath, United Kingdom