Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
MACHEN, Arthur.. The Three Impostors Or the Transmutations.. Boston: Roberts Bros., 1895., 1895.
Price: US$373.99 + shipping
Description: First U.S. edition. Sm. 8vo., orig. blue cloth dec. in green, 215, (12)pp.ads. Spine slightly darkened o/w near fine. Keynote Series.
Seller: David Mason Books (ABAC), Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$900.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition, 290 pages plus John Lane publisher ads at back. Stamp to front free endpaper, else very good. Cover design by Aubrey Beardsley.
Seller: Graver & Pen Rare Books, Midland, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$900.00 + shipping
Description: Boston, MA: Roberts Brothers. Collectible-Very Good/NO DUSTJACKET. 1895. First American Edition. Hardcover. Beardsley also designed the title page . 12mo., 215 pp. plus ads . Collectible-Very Good/NO DUSTJACKET
Seller: Riverow Bookshop, Owego, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$1750.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, pp. [1-8] [1] 2-290 + 14-page and 16-page publisher's catalogues inserted at rear, first advertising volumes in the "Keynotes" series, second a general catalogue dated 1895, cover and title page design by Aubrey Beardsley, title page printed in orange and black, original pictorial blue cloth, front panel stamped in white, spine panel stamped in white and gold, publisher's device stamped in white on rear panel, all edges untrimmed. Episodic mystery thriller incorporating four weird tales, including "Novel of the Black Seal" and "Novel of the White Powder," considered by Bleiler (1983) to be "among the classics of supernatural literature, beautifully narrated, highly imaginative, thought-provoking, even with a note of humor that is seldom encountered." Barron (ed), Horror Literature 2-59. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1071. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 147. Schlobin, The Literature of Fantasy 714. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 277. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature IV, pp. 1922-25. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-161. Bleiler (1978), p. 130. Reginald 09474. Goldstone & Sweetser 7a. A touch of rubbing to corner tips and spine ends. A fine copy. (28393)
Seller: John W. Knott, Jr, Bookseller, ABAA/ILAB, Laurel, MD, U.S.A.
Price: US$1800.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Unique copy of the first edition of Machen's impossibly eerie episodic novel, in an eerie handmade vernacular dust jacket, from the library of actor Wyndham Goldie. Published as no. XIX in John Lane's Keynotes series, THE THREE IMPOSTERS is a maze of horrors and nested narratives, replete with cultic murders, antique rituals, and obscure orgies, culminating in a dreadful scene from which Machen grudgingly consented, at the publisher's request, to remove the word "entrails." The arrest and trial of Oscar Wilde, with whom John Lane's publishing ventures were heavily associated in the press, inspired Lane's newfound timidity regarding frightful goings-on, graphically depicted; the remainder of the book's gruesome contents were, however, left uncensored. With the original painted jacket, striking example of book ownership intervention. 7.5'' x 4.75''. Original dark green and grey decorative cloth with gilt-lettered spine, designed by Aubrey Beardsley. In vivid yellow handmade dust jacket with grey and orange painted lettering, with title "The Three Imposters: Tales by Arthur Machen." 290 pages followed by 16 pages of publisher's advertisements. Bookplate of F. Wyndham Goldie to front paste-down. Most leaves unopened; shallow chipping to edges of several clumsily opened leaves. Small closed tear to front free endpaper.
Seller: Type Punch Matrix, Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.