£75
8vo, pp. viii, 310 [2], 32 [ads] + colour plate in ads to rear. Ads to endpapers. Original colour-printed yellow boards. A little shaken, some wear to edges, a little rubbed. Ownership inscription of Rita[?] Maclachlan to contents-page dated 1896, WH Smith and Son embossed stamp to flyleaf.
An attractive yellowback edition of Caine's 1887's Isle of Man-set three-decker of crime and punishment. Its Manx setting was suggested to Caine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, for whom the novelist was working as literary secretary. It was an immediate success and was frequently reprinted - 24 editions in 9 years is plausible, as Library Hub records an 18th edition dated 1894 and and 21st from 1895, and its popularity was such that King Edward VII was taken on a tour of its locations by Caine in 1902.
This particular edition is recorded by Library Hub in two locations: TCD and BL. The ads to the rear of this copy contain a colour plate of Marie Antoinette to advertise an antacid.
