DENNIS WHEATLEY'S 1ST EDITIONS IN ORDER OF PUBLICATION
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1933-1934 < < < < 1935-1937 > > > > 1938-1939

The Eunuch Of Stamboul
(click on cover picture for more details)
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Publication date:

[10 July 1935]

Series:

A one-off espionage novel featuring Swithin Destime

(link to The Eunuch Of Stamboul notes) Publisher's synopsis:

This story concerns a young Englishman, Swithin Destime, who, to avoid an international incident, had resigned from the Army; within weeks he was in Istanbul to check on rumours of a planned uprising.

But as a spy Destime was an amateur, alone in a city of intrigue and fear, a dark web in whose centre squatted the repulsive form of Kazdim Hari Bekar.

Formerly a Palace eunuch, Kazdim was now Chief of the Secret Police – a job which admirably suited his depraved personal tastes....

Known reprints:
1939, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1954, 1956
(12th reprint cover for The Eunuch Of Stamboul) (22nd reprint cover for The Eunuch Of Stamboul) (41st reprint cover for The Eunuch Of Stamboul) (111th reprint cover for The Eunuch Of Stamboul) (1950 reprint cover for The Eunuch Of Stamboul)
(12th Impression)
circa 1937
(although this date is not shown is later printing histories)
(22nd Impression)
circa 1943-45
(41st Thousand)
circa 1947
(111th Thousand)
circa 1948-50
1950
(still marked 111th Thousand!);
1954; 1956

A Century Of Horror
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(link to A Century Of Horror notes) Publication date:

[31 October 1935]

Series:

An collection of short stories edited by Dennis Wheatley

Notes:

Contains an introduction and a short story 'The Snake' by Dennis Wheatley

Known reprints:
(reprint dates unknown)

A Century of Horror (Gift Binding)
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Publication date:

(unknown)

Series:

An collection of short stories edited by Dennis Wheatley

Notes:

Similar to the Gift Binding of ‘A Century of Spy Stories’ (See ‘First Editions’ 1938-1939)

Known reprints:
(reprint dates unknown)

The Thrilling Romances of Dennis Wheatley : 1st Gift Box
(click on pictures for more details)
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Link to alphabetical index
Publication date:

[December 1935]

Series:

A gift box set containing DW's first four novels

(see also: 2nd Gift Box below)

  Inside lid reads:

The Thrilling Romances of
DENNIS WHEATLEY

Eminent critics have placed him in the same class as
DUMAS
EDGAR WALLACE
OPPENHEIM
BARONESS ORCZY
H. G. WELLS
RIDER HAGGARD
WM. LE QUEUX
BRAM STOKER
CONAN DOYLE
JULES VERNE

This
Gift-Box

contains the first four novels of an author who has achieved world fame in little over two years.

Known reprints:
(no known reprints)

They Found Atlantis
(click on cover picture for more details)
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Link to alphabetical index
Publication date:

[2 January 1936]
(subsequently serialised in an abridged form from 8 January to 4 March 1936 in the Daily Mail)

Series:

A one-off 'Lost World' adventure novel

 

Link to the list of
'Lost World' novels

(link to They Found Atlantis notes) Publisher's synopsis:

Atlantis: for centuries the magic of that name has haunted man's imagination.

Now, an incredible expedition is being prepared. Its destination: the final resting place of the ancient gold-encrusted city – one mile beneath the surface of the sea.

For the lovely Camilla and her band of adventurers the days to come are full of danger. Ahead lies the silence of the unknown Deeps – and a nightmare of terror and betrayal.

Known reprints:
1936 (?10th Thousand), 1938 (?15th Thousand), 1942, 1947 (?75th Thousand), 1953, 1954, 1957
  (1954 reprint cover for They Found Atlantis) (1954 reprint cover for They Found Atlantis)  
  (10th Thousand)
circa Jan/July 1936
(75th Thousand)
circa 1947;
1954; 1957
 

Murder Off Miami
(click on cover picture for more details)
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(link to Murder Off Miami notes) Publication date:

[23 July 1936]

Series:

Out of Series
(Crime Dossier)

 

Link to the list
of Crime Dossiers

Publisher's synopsis:

Murder off Miami is presented to the public in the form of a complete police dossier. Each copy consists of a hundred and seventy odd sheets in a cardboard folder (11½ in.x 9 in.); the first is a cable, the next a buff police memo.; there follow fourteen full-page photographs of living people and the scene of the murder, handwritten letters, police reports and the actual clues (human hair, a piece of blood-stained curtain, etc.) presented in correct sequence so that it reads like a straight thriller.

Known reprints/reissues:
40th?, 50th?, 55th?, 60th?, 70th?, 75th?, 80th?, 85th?, 1979, 1986
(40th reprint cover for Murder Off Miami) (50th reprint cover for Murder Off Miami) (75th reprint cover for Murder Off Miami) (80th reprint cover for Murder Off Miami)
(40th Thousand)
date unknown
(50th Thousand)
date unknown
(75th Thousand)
date unknown
(80th Thousand)
date unknown
(85th reprint cover for Murder Off Miami) A curious copy seen by Kevin Pearce in 2016 (1979 reprint cover for Murder Off Miami) (1986 reprint cover for Murder Off Miami)
(85th Thousand)
Date unknown
A curious copy seen by Kevin Pearce in 2016 1979
ISBN: 0091383404
1986
ISBN: 0863501184

Contraband
(click on cover picture for more details)
top
Link to alphabetical index
Publication date:

[9 October 1936]
(originally serialised in an abridged form from 24 September to 3 November 1936 in the Daily Mail)

Series:

A Gregory Sallust espionage novel

 

Link to the
Gregory Sallust series in
chronological order

(link to Contraband notes)

the traditional first edition



(link to Contraband notes)

a variant first edition,
possibly for the colonial market
(click here to see the full jacket)

(Picture courtesy Lin Campbell, New Zealand)
Publisher's synopsis:

"MIDNIGHT at the Casino" is the first chapter heading in this strange story of international intrigue wherein 'planes flit by night to secret landing-grounds and lightless launches nose their way up narrow creeks in a low desolate coastline.

From the moment we meet the beautiful Sabine, during La Grande Semaine at Deauville, until the last page which discloses the end of her romance, the reader is caught up and lives for breathless hours through scene after scene of swift action and stealthy secret work at night.

We meet again that sinister figure of twisted body and twisted brain, Lord Gavin Fortescue, who escaped all penalty for the havoc and suffering he wrought in Such Power is Dangerous; and pitted against him we find that cynical but charming egoist Gregory Sallust, whose courage and imagination saved his friends in the dark hours of Black August.

The story is told with all the skill and speed and plausibility which have delighted readers of Wheatley's tales of romance and adventure all over the world.

Known reprints:
1938, 1941, 1942, 1945, 1952, 1954, 1958
  (1954 reprint cover for Contraband)  
  1954;
(8th Impression) 1958
 

The Secret War
(click on cover picture for more details)
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(link to The Secret War notes) Publication date:

[8 January 1937]

Series:

A one-off contemporary espionage novel using the Abbysinian War as the background

Publisher's synopsis:

Sir Anthony Lovelace had liked the handsome young American at their first meeting, but if he had known that Christopher Penn was one of the celebrated Millers of God, who condemned to death all those who profited from war, he might have thought twice before associating with him. He certainly would have done so could he have guessed that he would find himself pledged to assist in the 'elimination' of an Armenian gentleman named Paxito Zarrif, and that keeping his word would lead him on a chase through Europe and Africa to the heart of Abyssinia, and into a series of terrifying adventures. Yet he was carried through largely by his love for Valerie, Christopher's fiancée; an unspoken devotion that, in Addis Ababa, reaped its reward.

Known reprints:
1938, 1939, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1953, 1954, 1958
  (1954 reprint cover for The Secret War) (1954 reprint cover for The Secret War)  
  (17th Thousand /10th Impression) circa Jan 1939 1954, 1958  

Who Killed Robert Prentice?
(click on 1st edition cover picture for more details)
top
Link to alphabetical index
Publication date:

[1 June 1937]

Series:

Out of Series
(Crime Dossier)

 

Link to the list
of Crime Dossiers

(link to Who Killed Robert Prentice? notes)

Publisher's synopsis:

What is the significance of the railway ticket found in the cottage where the victim met his mistress, the lovely Suzanne L'Estrange?  Why was a Belgian stamp found in the hall?  Why did Robert Prentice write such a vindictive letter to Miss L'Estrange, and what was the fatal outcome?  What did the blackmailer see through the bedroom window, and who tore up his photograph?

Test your powers of deduction when you break the sealed section containing the
NAME OF THE MURDERER.

Known reprints/reissues:
50th? 65th? 1980, 1986
(50th reprint blue cover for Who Killed Robert Prentice?) (50th reprint red cover for Who Killed Robert Prentice?) (50th reprint green cover for Who Killed Robert Prentice?) (65th reprint blue cover for Who Killed Robert Prentice?) (65th reprint red cover for Who Killed Robert Prentice?)
(50th Thousand) (three colours)
dates unknown
 'green' cover picture generously supplied by Sverre Sørborg 
(65th Thousand) (two colours)
dates unknown
 '65th' pictures generously supplied by Clive Williams 
  (1980 reprint cover for Who Killed Robert Prentice?) (1980 reprint cover for Who Killed Robert Prentice?) (1980 reprint cover for Who Killed Robert Prentice?)  
  (65th Thousand )(green colour)
date unknown
Picture generously supplied
by Kevin Pearce
1980
ISBN: 0906671043
1986
ISBN: 0863501214
 

Red Eagle. The Story Of The Russian Revolution
(click on cover picture for more details)
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(link to Red Eagle notes) Publication date:

[25 October] 1937

Series:

One of two Historical Biographies, the other being "Old Rowley". A Private Life of Charles II.

Publisher's synopsis:

The Revolution that changed the world...

October 1917. A small band of communists seize control of Czarist Russia. Their aim: to transform a nation of two hundred million people into a 'Workers' State' – a cruel, highly-organised machine which would conquer the world for Communism.

What forces drive such men? Through the life of Klementy Efremovitch Voroshilov, brilliant general and dedicated communist, world-famous novelist Dennis Wheatley reveals the face of the system which, even today, is a puzzle and a challenge to the West.

Known reprints:
1938 (24th Thousand)
(1938 reprint cover for Red Eagle)
1938 (24th Thousand)

The Thrilling Romances of Dennis Wheatley : 2nd Gift Box
(click on picture for more details)
top
Link to alphabetical index
Publication date:

[December 1937]

Series:

A gift box set containing DW's second four novels

(see also: 1st Gift Box above)

Notes:

Contains DW's second four novels:

‘The Devil Rides Out’, ‘The Eunuch Of Stamboul’, ‘They Found Atlantis’ and ‘Contraband’.

Known reprints:
(no known reprints)

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