Something Better.

(ANONYMOUS).

Publication: Boston: Lee and Shepard, Publishers, 1878, Boston

First edition. 12mo. Original red cloth, advertisements on endpapers, 232 pp. plus 8 pages of advertisements. Book title four of six books published as the "Sparkling Series" of the publisher's many book publications. Presents Detective Gabriel Gooch, in a book published in the same year as THE LEAVENWORTH CASE written by Anna Katharine Green. Although Detective Gooch appears in only three chapters, he is somewhat unusual, "If Marcus Graves committed an error in placing his case unreservedly in the hands of Detective Gooch, that worthy made a great mistake when he adopted the profession of detective. He was singularly unqualified for that calling...." Gabriel Gooch sounds like a parody of "Ebenezer Gryce" in THE LEAVENWORTH CASE. Lyle H. Wright's third volume of his bibliography on Fiction, Wright 111-5071 cites two copies of the book, one copy in the Huntington Library and the other copy at the Library of Congress. OCLC cites four copies, Huntington Library, Library of Congress, Ohio State, and Yale University. Not listed in any of the standard reference books, such as Hubin, Barzun & Taylor, etc. Some minor spotting to the cloth, else a very good, tight copy.

Inventory Number: 27776