Robert van ( author and illustrator ). The Chinese Maze Murders: A Chinese Detective Story Suggested by Three Original Ancient Chinese Plots.

by GULIK

£1,400 · Offered by Henry Sotheran Ltd

The Whole Thing has a Great Charm and Freshness GULIK, Robert van ( author and illustrator ). The Chinese Maze Murders: A Chinese Detective Story Suggested by Three Original Ancient Chinese Plots. The Hague and Bandung: W. Van Hoeve . 1956. 8vo. Publisher’s black cloth lettered in red to upper board and spine, with small red vignette to upper board; bright orange illustrated jacket designed by the author, with the rare wrap-around promotional band featuring Agatha Christie’s endorsement; pp. xiii, [1 (blank)], 322, with 19 illustrated plates by the author; jacket with light wear to the hinges of the flaps, some toning to spine and white rear panel, and slight spotting to the reverse; promotional band with a few closed tears (c. 2 cm to front) and light toning and spotting to white areas; small bookseller’s label to pastedown; slight offsetting to endpapers; overall a remarkably clean and bright copy; near fine. First English edition of the second Judge Dee novel, with the rare promotional wrap-around band bearing Agatha Christie’s endorsement, in which she writes that she “enjoyed the book immensely. The whole thing has a great charm and freshness and I hope it will have a great success”. Although the publisher’s blurb notes that “nowadays readers of detective stories often voice the complaint that it becomes increasingly difficult to find a crime novel that brings something entirely new”, Van Gulik innovates by deliberately returning to the past: his detective, Judge Dee, is

• Binding: Hardcover

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