Colonial Edition of A Study in Scarlet

Another colonial edition purchase, this time a copy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet found at the Lifeline Book Fair on the weekend for $20.  Green and Gibson's A Bibliography of A. Conan Doyle mention two colonial editions of A Study in Scarlet published by Ward, Lock & Bowden. The first, in blue cloth and black lettering, was published in 1892 and probably forms part of Ward, Lock's first attempt at a colonial library, which began in about 1890, with a pseudo Australian coat of arms on the back cover and 'Australian Edition' or 'Colonial Edition' stamped on the front cover.  The second and more successful series, of which this copy is a part, started in 1895 and continued with the rust-coloured uniform covers and black lettering until about 1899, when the covers changed.  It has 1895 printed on the title page and 'Colonial Edition' in gothic writing with a stamp on the back cover that it is for circulation in the colonies.

Both colonial editions seem fairly scarce and I can't find any images online.  This 1895 edition (more accurately, issue) is the 1894 sixth impression of the second edition (if I'm reading Green & Gibson correctly) with new prelims.

Thanks to John Loder for the detailed bibliographic information.

The Colonial Edition of Dracula

On the topic of Dracula and colonial editions, a stir was created a few years ago when Robert Eighteen-Bisang published details of an unrecorded colonial edition of Dracula that had turned up in Australia and sold on ebay. The fact that it remained unrecorded for so long probably has more to do with the lack of serious bibliographical attention given to colonial editions than the actual rarity of the book. Here is a contemporary notice of the Hutchinson colonial edition of Dracula from the Adelaide Advertiser, Saturday 22 January 1898, page 8:

CURRENT LITERATURE
Hutchinson & Co's Publications
The latest additions to Messrs. Hutchinson's Colonial Library include stories grave and gay, sensational and domestic. Pre-eminently striking is Bram Stoker's "Dracula," notwithstanding that it is in great part a reversion to old-fashioned methods. Its plot is unfolded by letters and diaries in regular painstaking fashion, after the manner of Wilkie Collins. As for the plot itself, it is ghastly beyond belief. Not even Sheridan Lefanu in his wildest moments ever conceived anything to equal it for haunting horror. It is a story of human vampires and demoniacal possession, of midnight apparitions and life-in-death. The book must be carefully kept out of the way of anyone with weak nerves; but for those who can stand it there is a fearful joy in the gradual making clear of the tremendous mysteries involved. The art of the author is of quality high enough celare artem. There is no attempt at fine writing, and the simple details almost bring conviction. If they quite brought it, farewell to the reader's peace of mind!

The Stone Dragon - a colonial edition

An advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald for 15 August 1898 lists a colonial edition of R. Murray Gilchrist's scarce collection of decadent tales, The Stone Dragon. Colonial editions are an interesting area of bibliography that is still a fertile ground for exploration. Copies of the Methuen first edition surface occasionally - John Eggeling at Todmorden recently had an ex-lib copy on offer for a couple of hundred quid - but I can't recall ever hearing of a colonial edition. Colonial editions usually have drab, uniform covers, so presumably a colonial edition of The Stone Dragon would lack the striking cover of the original (pictured here).

COLONIAL LIBRARY.
Bound in Red Cloth, and published at 3s 6d.
This Splendid Series of BOOKS, which were Selling Freely at ONE SHILLING EACH

NINEPENCE PER VOL.

Alderdene. Major Paul
Cumberern of the Ground. C. Smith
Children of this World. E. F. Pinnent
Cavalier Lady. Constance Macewan
Dumps and I. Mrs. Parr
Diogenes of London. J. [sic] B. Marriott-Watson
Double Knot. G. M. Fenn
Eli's Children. G. M. Fenn
Hovenden, V.C. F. M. Robinson
Hepsy Gipsy. L. T. Meade
In Tent and Bungalow. By author of "Indian Idylls"
Jaco Treloar. J. H. Pearce
Jack's Father. W. E. Norris
King's Favorite. U. A. Taylor
Jim B. F. S. Carew
A Lost Illusion. Leslie Keith
My Stewardship. E. M. Gray
My Land of Beulah. Mrs. Leith-Adams
Only a Guardroom Dog. E. E. Cuthell
The Poison of Asps. R. O. Prowse
Plann of Campaign. F. M. Robinson
Quiet Mrs. Fleming. R. Pryce
A Reverend Gentleman. J. M. Cobban
Secret of Madame de Moulac
The Gods Give My Donkey Wings. A. E. Abbott
The Stone Dragon. M. Gilchrist
This Man's Dominion. Deas Cromarty
Time and the Woman. R. Bryce
Toddleben's Hero. M. M. Blake.

ANTHONY HORDERN AND SONS,
UNIVERSAL PROVIDERS,
HAYMARKET (ONLY)