The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. by HUME, Fergus W - 1887: A Startling and Realistic Story of Melbourne Social Life.

London: The Hansom Cab Publishing Company,, 1887. Earliest practically obtainable impression First UK edition, earliest practically obtainable impression with "seventy-fifth thousand" on the title page. The novel, one of the greatest and most successful of all detective stories, had met with enormous enthusiasm when first published in Australia in 1886. The author foolishly sold the copyright for a paltry sum to the businessman Frederick Trischler, who travelled to London and founded the Hansom Cab Publishing Company in 1887. They printed 25,000 copies a month from July onwards, this being the third, September impression. Hundreds of thousands of copies would be sold by the end of the century. Any copy under the 100,000 mark is exceedingly difficult to find, especially in such condition. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone. Octavo. Original green printed wrappers. Housed in a blue cloth flat-back box by the Chelsea Bindery. Small mark and chip to front cover, a few tiny nicks, rust stains around staples, some nicks and very light soiling to pages. Overall an excellent, unrestored copy of this highly fragile novel. Quayle, Collector's Book of Detective Fiction, p. 52.