HUNTED DOWN; And Other Reprinted Pieces.
Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson & Brothers; 306 Chestnut Street. (n. d.). "People's Edition", ca 1872. Cf. Gimbel D26. [5] - 467, [17] pp. Advert leaf [pp 5-6] prior to t.p. & 16 pages of publisher adverts conclude volume. 'Hunted Down' illustrated with cuts. 12mo. 7-1/2" x 4-3/4". Publisher's original morocco-style brown cloth with gilt stamped spine & publisher's medallion ("Uniform Duodecimo Edition") blindstamped to front board. Square & tight, with bright spine gilt. General extremity wear, with chipping at backstrip ends & with front joint just starting. Period poi, dated 1872, to preliminary blank. Usual smattering of foxing. Withal, a VG copy. Item #44149.1
First published in the New York Ledger in 3 parts in 1859, this story is one of the few by Charles Dickens that is widely regarded as Detective Fiction. It is narrated by Mr. Sampson, the retired chief manager of an insurance office, who is a believer in physiognomy—reading faces—as a means of interpreting character."
Per Philip Allingham [The Victorian Web], 'Hunted Down' explores the fact that, beneath the civilised veneer, always lurks the impulse towards violence; like those novels [ATTC & GE], the short story is permeated with a sense of mystery; and like those novels, it arrives at a sensational denouement through the operation of coincidence. These works, like Collins's, show us that the world of romance lies just outside our own front doors, people by characters we pass daily in the street."
All-in-all, an interesting tale, with much not as it seems.
A "Queen's Quorum" title.
Price: $95.00