A Book of Bargains O'SULLIVAN, Vincent (1868-1940) Illustrated & Plate Books,Literature

[Supernatural Tales] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.[8] 185 [3]. With a pen and ink frontispiece by Aubrey Beardsley. Publisher's burgundy cloth, gilt titles to upper board and spine. Edges untrimmed. Light spotting throughout, mostly to margins and fore-edge. Moderate spotting to endpapers, preliminaries, and rear few leaves. Armorial bookplate of A. Percy Allsopp to front pastedown. Mild rubbing to boards and joints, sunning to spine. Gentle shelfwear. Very good. A fin de siecle series of gothic tales on the central theme of a bargain; features one of O'Sullivan's most famous stories, 'The Bargain of Rupert Orange' where the protagonist, thrust unfairly into poverty, agrees to sell his life to the devil in exchange for five years of wealth. Ex libris conservative politician Alfred Percy Allsopp.