Between the Covers

Hardcover. First edition, the presumed first printing (on non-coated stock and bulking thicker), first issue without any advertisements. Neat ownership label of the Colonel Kendal Coghill, C.B. on the front pastedown, also an attractive bookplate and pencil name on the front fly, hinges cracked, minor foxing, moderately cocked, light mottling and soiling to the cloth, for this book a very good copy in a custom quarter morocco clamshell case. The pencil ownership signature is "Mrs. McClure" (the American publisher of *Dracula* was Doubleday, McClure, but whether this Mrs. McClure is in any way related is not determined). Colonel Coghill (1832-1919) had a long, distinguished, and well-documented career with the 19th Hussars, joining the Bengal Army in 1851, and rising through the ranks, eventually commanding the 19th Hussar in the 1882 Egypt campaign, and retiring the following year. In the 1890s he dabbled in spiritualism and other paranormal phenomena. Like Stoker, Coghill was born in Ireland, and additionally he served there with the Hussars in 1880 during a period of civil unrest. An attractive copy of this iconic title, a cornerstone of horror fiction.

Item #325280