London: Rider & Co.. [1940].
"one of the great novels of supernatural horror"
First edition. 182x115mm. pp. 288. Blue cloth, lettered in gilt to spine. Original illustrated mauve dustjacket. Rubbing and slight chipping to edges of the jacket, marking and slight soiling to spine and lower cover of jacket. Internally very good but the text block is a little cocked and there is some spotting in places and slight soiling to the edges. Overall a very good copy of what is widely regarded as one of the great novels of supernatural horror and an important successor to the work of H.P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker. Indeed, it was the inclusion of Dark Sanctuary in Karl Edward Wagner's 1983 "13 Best Supernatural Horror Novels" that revived interest in Gregory and this extraordinary novel which weaves, around the plot, much occult arcana.
Most of the copies of the first edition of Dark Sanctuary were destroyed in an air raid during the Blitz and it is said that only twelve made it into circulation. We suspect that a few more may have survived but the book is undoubtedly rare, and the original dustjacket is almost unfindable. OCLC records it in only six libraries with Library Hub adding the BL and only one copy appears in the auction records.
