THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. Another adventure of Sherlock Holmes. - Longmans Colonial Library edition

Longmans, Green, and Co. London and Bombay. 1902. FIRST EDITION. Colonial Issue. 8vo. (7.4 x 5.3 inches). Illustrated with sixteen mono plates by Sidney Paget. Tisue guard to the frontispiece. A few of the plates are bound in different places than listed on the contents page but all are present. 4 pages of publishers adverts for the colonial library at the rear of the book. The text and illustrations are fine, clean and bright throughout and look unread. Publishers decorative green cloth which has dark blue illustration to the front board and spine. Gilt lettering to the spine. Decorative light blue and white floral endpapers with ship and swan designs. There are a couple of small closed tears to the spine and the cloth is a bit rubbed and bumped and has a few small marks but is generally in very good condition with the gilt on the spine still quite bright. Previous owner's small typed name label on the plain verso of the front free endpaper, reading H. B. Rattray. This is almost certainly Captain Haldane Burney Rattray (1870 to 1917) who, as a Lieutenant, led the 45th Sikhs regiment, known as the Rattray Sikhs after Haldane's father who raised the regiment in 1856, at Malakand in 1897, receiving the DSO for his leadership during the battle. Another previous owner has neatly written their name, and the date 1998, on the blank verso of the frontispiece. The London first edition was published by George Newnes on 25 March 1902. There was a total of 25,000 copies printed in the first print run. This first colonial edition was published a week later by Longmans, Green & Co. on 2 April 1902, with 13,000 copies printed for circulation only in India and the British Colonies.