Rare books from Back Lane Books (Member of IOBA)

The Voyage Of Nearchus, From The Indus To The Euphrates. Collected From The Original Journal Preserved By Arrian, And Illustrated By Ancient And Modern Authorities Containing An Account Of The First Navigation Attempted By Europeans In The Indian Ocean. Vincent, William. Published by T. Cadell Jun. & W. Davies, London, 1797. First Edition. 530pp. Expertly rebound in full calf leather with banded spine and gilt stamped titles and marbled endpapers. Frontispiece, wide margins. 6 maps & charts of which 4 are folding, some geometrical figures, 1 table; errata and 'directions to the bookbinder' bound-in. A beautiful and rare volume in near fine condition; light soiling first few blank pages and frontispiece; gray/black inked notes on a few pages in very neat and tiny script; text block is clean with no paper loss or damage. A seminal work for scholars and a rare, fascinating volume for the collector.
This work comprises an English version of Arrian's account of the celebrated voyage of Nearchus of… Read More

Escape To Persia, By Katharine Hull & Pamela Whitlock. Published by New York, The Macmillan Company, March 1939. First American Edition. Brown boards with black design and titles front and spine. dust jacket and brown pictorial end papers designed by Charles Pont. Light rubbing to board corners and spine ends, light bump top edge. Inscription dated 1945 on dedication page; no other markings. Volume in near fine condition. Clipped dust jacket is in fair to good condition with small closed tears taped from the inside; chipping to edges and paper loss very top of spine. Scarce title.

The Works of William Shakespeare; His Plays and Poems from the Text of the Editions by Charles Knight with Glossarial Notes and Facts Connected with His Life and Writings, Abridged from "William Shakspere, A Biography. Complete in One Volume, Shakspere". Published by George Cox, London, 1853, Sixth edition. 8vo up to 9½" tall. 1060 pages. Profusely illustrated throughout by W. Harvey. Tan leather boards with gilt border front and back. Spine has 6 gilt raised bands with elaborate gilt design between each; title "Skakspere" (without 'e') in gilt block letters against dark brown leather strip. Endpapers and all edges marbled. Light and sporadic foxing, light toning to illustrations and otherwise contents are clean without markings, tears or folds. Free front endpaper along with blank page and frontis portrait are cleanly detached but remain bound together; easily repairable; remaining text block is tight. Boards have moderate wear with small stain to rear, tiny splits to head and tail of spine. A… Read More

A. J. Casson: His Life & Works/A Tribute, Duval, Paul. Published by Cerebus /Prentice Hall, Toronto, Canada, 1980. First Edition. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. 285 pages. Text by Paul Duval. Burgundy cloth boards, gilt titles on spine, Casson embossed on front cover. navy blue endpapers, frontispiece illustrated painting: Winter Sunset, 1931. Full-page colour plates of Casson's work beginning in 1898 up to 1980. Ten chapters pages with gilt titles on heavy blue card stock; list of exhibition and chronology at rear. Volume has light fading to boards which are otherwise fine; binding fine. Light toning outside of text block and plates, otherwise fine without markings, tears or folds. Unclipped dustjacket has a few closed tears, edge ruffling and light age toning.
Alfred Joseph Casson, OC (1898 – 1992) was the youngest member of the Canadian Group of Seven. He is best known for his depictions of landscapes, forests and farms in the medium of watercolors.

The Complete Works of William Makepeace Thackeray, with introductions by William P. Trent and John Bell Henneman. Published by the Society of English and French Literature, New York, [1904]; introduction quotes a 1904 date. Complete in 30 volumes. Limited to 1000 numbered copies. 8vo up to 9½" tall. (8 ¼ x 5 ¾). Each volume is approximately 450pp. with tissue guarded color frontispiece and additional black and white plates. Half bound in dark blue pebbled leather over marbled boards with matching marbled end papers; gilt spine titles with art nouveau decorative panels; top edge gilt; fore-edge rough cut. Contents in generally fine condition without ownership marks, tears or folds. Boards have some rubbing and fraying to edges; binding remains tight. A lovely set.

The Vampires of Finistere, Peter Saxon (Rex Dolphin) Published by Howard Baker, London, 1970. First Edition. Small 8vo up to 9½" tall. Dark blue boards with gilt titles. Volume is in unread condition; pages remain bright and white. Unclipped jacket has some rubbing and is otherwise in fine condition. An exceedingly rare hardcover copy in highly collectible condition. "All the nightmare shapes of Evil, with only The Guardians aroused, aware and able to fight the Dark Powers on their own ground. A missing girl tourist, an archaic ritual in a town that time forgot and a legend of a sunken city draw the Guardians into their most desperate exploit, and a cataclysmic victory over vampirism, witchcraft, black magic, voodoo, sorcery". The Vampires of Finistère was written by Rex Dolphin and published using the Peter Saxon house name; it is one of six novels in the "Guardians" series featuring a London-based group of occult detectives battling the forces of evil during the 1960's.

The Malloreon: Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of Darshiva, The Seeress of Kell, David Eddings. Published by Del Rey, 1987-1991. Guardians of the West (1987); third printing; King of the Murgos (1988); fourth printing; Demon Lord of Karanda (1988); first printing; Sorceress of Darshiva (1989); first printing; The Seeress of Kell (1991); second printing. Volumes are in fine condition without markings, tears or folds and binding is tight and square; light outer edge dusting to one or more volume. Dustjackets are in fine to near fine condition: Guardians of the West dust jacket is clipped; sticker residue to jacket of King of the Murgos; small closed tear along jacket flap of Demon Lord of Karanda. A very collectible, complete set of David Eddings's epic fantasy series.

The Second Great Dune Trilogy: God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, Chapter House Dune, Herbert, Frank. Published by Gollancz, London, 1987. First UK Edition. 1120pp. Blue cloth boards with gilt spine titles. Both volume and unclipped jacket are in fine, unmarked, unread condition. The Second Great Dune Trilogy contains God Emperor of Dune , Heretics of Dune and Chapter House Dune , and concludes the Dune Chronicles, one of the most influential SF series ever written. Herbert's evocative, epic tales are set on the desert planet Arrakis, the focus for a complex political and military struggle with galaxy-wide repercussions.

The Hands of Orlac, Renard, Maurice, Published by Souvenir Press, London, 1981. First UK edition. Translated From the French by Iain White. 8vo up to 9½" tall. 301pp. Black boards with silver titles. Volume is in fine, unread condition; housed in a fine, unclipped jacket with the lightest of shelf wear.
First published in 1920 in French as "Les Mains d'Orlac." The First English translation was published by E.P. Dutton, New York, 1929. The Hands of Orlac was the basis for 4 films including the 1935 Hollywood version with Peter Lorre entitled "Mad Love".
The story centres round a world-famous concert pianist, Stephen Orlac, whose hands are horribly mutilated in a train accident. An eminent surgeon grafts on a new pair of hands, but with ghastly results, for Orlac now finds himself possessed, not of musical skills, but by strange and terrible impulses. The hands that he has been given were those of a man guillotined for murder, and the spirit of the dead man has survived in his hands to live again in… Read More

The Wolf's Hour, McCammon, Robert R. Published by Grafton Books, London, 1989. First UK Edition. 475pp. Grey cloth boards with gilt titles, grey endpapers. Volume is in fine, unread condition and housed in a fine, unclipped jacket.
On the eve of D-Day, a British secret agent with unique powers goes behind Nazi lines. A remarkable tale of pulse-pounding excitement and a fascinating, complex, and compelling portrayal of the werewolf as noble warrior and conflict-torn being.

The Bride of Frankenstein (Sequel to Frankenstein), Egremont Michael (Maurice Desmond Rohan; Pseudonym Michael Harrison). Published by Bookfinger, New York, 1976. Introduction by George Locke. (i-v)., 252pp. with half title, title, publisher, table of contents. Reprint of the 1936 original Queensway Press Edition of The Readers Library Publishing Company of London. Issued without a dustjacket. Black boards with gilt spine titles. In fine, unread condition with a tiny dust mark lower outer edge and a tiny crease at head of spine.
The novel was based on the James Whale film "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) starring Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff. After the movie was completed, Michael Harrison was commissioned to produce a novel from the original film script. Given only three weeks to produce a finished work, Harrison (Egremont) ultimately abandoned the script and produced what "was to all intents and purposes original fiction."
Michael Egremont was a one time only pen name for UK detective and… Read More

The Bachman Books: Rage; The Long Walk; Roadwork; The Running Man, King, Stephen [Bachman, Richard]. Published by New American Library, New York, 1985. First Edition, First Printing. 8vo up to 9½" tall., 692pp. with Introduction by Stephen King: 'Why I Was Bachman'. Quarter black cloth over black boards with gilt titles. Light toning to pages and otherwise volume is in fine condition; binding is tight and square and boards are fine. Unclipped jacket has light rubbing to corners and head of spine; gilt is rubbed on letter 'e' in the first word of front panel; inside jacket has toning. A very scarce edition, in very collectible condition.

The Great Hunt, Jordan, Robert. Published by Tor Books, New York, 1990. First Edition, Second Printing. Signed, dated, and inscribed by Robert Jordan. Cover illustrations by Darryl Sweet. 8vo up to 9½" tall. 624pp. Blue cloth boards with gilt titles to spine, illustrated front endpapers. Signed in blue ink on title page below title: "For …, With best wishes, Robert Jordan, 10/23/91 Toronto". Both volume and unclipped dustjacket are in fine condition. Book Two of The Wheel of Time series. Signed copies of Book One and Three also available.

The Griffin and Sabine Trilogy, Bantock, Nick. Published by Chronicle Books/Raincoast Books, San Francisco and Vancouver, 1991-1993. Each volume signed by author to title page without inscription. Vol. I: Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence; Vol. II: Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues; and Vol. III: The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes. Volumes 2 and 3 are First printings; Volume 1 is a later printing. Each volume is in fine condition; dustjackets have very light edge ruffling; dustjacket of Volume 1 is clipped and has light fading to spine.

Ravenloft: Nine Volumes. Published by TSR Ravenloft Books, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, 1991-1994. Soft covers. First Editions except for Vampire of the Mists which is a third printing. Volumes are in fine condition with three volumes showing toning and one volume with a light rub to front cover. Titles: 1. Vampire of the Mists, Christie Golden; 2. Knight of the Black Rose, James Lowder; 3. Dance of the Dead, Christie Golden; 4. Heart of Midnight, F J. Robert King; 5. Tapestry of Dark Souls. Elaine Bergstrom; 6. Carnival of Fear F. J. Robert King; 7. The Enemy Within, Christie Golden; 8. Mordenheim, Chet Williamson; Tales of Ravenloft, edited by Brian Thomsen.
Ravenloft is a fictional campaign setting created for Dungeons & Dragons role playing games in the 1980s, and is the setting for the series of novels.