The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians

"The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians" is a detective fiction short story by American writer August Derleth. It was released in 1968 by Mycroft & Moran in an edition of 2,012 copies. The 38-page chapbook is illustrated by Frank Utpatel.

The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians
cover by Frank Utpatel for The Adventure of the Unique Dickensians
AuthorAugust Derleth
IllustratorFrank Utpatel
Cover artistFrank Utpatel
LanguageEnglish
SeriesSolar Pons
GenreDetective fiction
PublisherMycroft & Moran
Publication date
1968
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Chapbook)
Pages38
Preceded byThe Casebook of Solar Pons 
Followed byMr. Fairlie's Final Journey 

Of the Mycroft and Moran edition, 35 copies were bound in black cloth printed in gilt on the spine and front board, likely by collector/publisher Gerry de la Ree and distributed thus probably during the 1980s. The bound copies bear a label affixed to the inside front pastedown with a statement of the copy number, e.g. "#6 of 35 bound copies."

The story is part of Derleth's Solar Pons series of pastiches of the Sherlock Holmes tales of Arthur Conan Doyle. It is a Christmas story about Ebenezer Snawley, an eccentric collector of Dickensiana who dresses in 19th-century clothing and is harassed by a man who bawls street cries near his dwelling.

The story was eventually collected in The Chronicles of Solar Pons.

Sources

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  • Jaffery, Sheldon (1989). The Arkham House Companion. Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House, Inc. p. 91. ISBN 1-55742-005-X.
  • Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd. p. 845.
  • Joshi, S.T. (1999). Sixty Years of Arkham House: A History and Bibliography. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. p. 182. ISBN 0-87054-176-5.
  • Nielsen, Leon (2004). Arkham House Books: A Collector's Guide. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 153. ISBN 0-7864-1785-4.