The Singing Sands; A Shilling for Candles; The Daughter of Time; Miss Pym Disposes; To Love and Be Wise; The Franchise Affair

This is the almost complete (missing Brat Farrar) set of Josephine Tey's books published by The Folio Society in the new binding between 2014 and 2020, including five Inspector Alan Grant novels and one stand-alone mystery set in the same fictional 20th-century Britain. A lot containing, in chronological order (as published by the Society):

Josephine Tey, The Singing Sands. London: The Folio Society, 2014. Second printing thus. Introduced by Val McDermid, illustrated by Mark Smith. 228 × 149 × 27 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii–xv [xvi–xviii], 1–235 [236–238]: [7] leaves of colour plates (facing pp. [iii], 30, 78, 95, 158, 175 and 207). Type: Dante with Station No. 5 for display. Printed and bound by L.E.G.O. in full red buckram blocked in black and cream with design by Smith. Red endleaves. Black slip case. The binding design was used to create notebooks, with ruled paper, for marketing campaigns and events. With the spine reading ‘A Folio Notebook’ in black, the dimensions were reduced to 216 × 129 × 19 mm.

Josephine Tey, A Shilling for Candles. London: The Folio Society, 2016. First printing thus. Introduced by Laurie R. King, illustrated by Mark Smith. 229 × 150 × 28 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii–xvi, [1–2], 3–240: [7] leaves of colour plates (facing pp. [iii], 32, 49, 96, 129, 208 and 225). Type: Dante with Station No. 5 for display. Printed and bound by L.E.G.O. in full green buckram blocked in black and cream with design by Smith. Green endleaves. Black slip case.

Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time. London: The Folio Society, 2018. First printing thus. Introduced by Alison Weir, illustrated by Mark Smith. 228 × 151 × 26 mm. Pp. [i–iv] v–xviii [xix–xx], [1–2] 3–203 [204]: [7] leaves of colour plates (facing pp. [iii], 28, 45, 124, 141, 172 and 189). Type: Dante with Station No. 5 for display. Printed and bound by L.E.G.O. in full blue-green buckram blocked in cream and black with design by Smith; blue endleaves with genealogical tables in black. Black slip case. This is the second Folio edition, the first having appeared in 2006 with a different illustrator.

Josephine Tey, Miss Pym Disposes. London: The Folio Society, 2018. First printing thus. Illustrated by Mark Smith. 229 × 151 × 27 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii [viii], [1–2] 3–253 [254–256]: [7] leaves of colour plates (facing pp. [iii], 40, 64, 81, 128, 208 and 225). Type: Dante with Station No. 5 for display. Printed and bound by L.E.G.O. in full brown buckram blocked in cream and black with design by Smith; brown endleaves. Black slip case.

Josephine Tey, To Love and Be Wise. London: The Folio Society, 2019. First printing thus. Illustrations by Mark Smith. 229 × 150 × 28 mm. Pp. [i–vi] vii [viii], [1–2] 3–236 [237–240]: [7] leaves of colour plates (facing pp. [iii], 8, 104, 137, 168, 177 and 208). Type: Dante with Station No. 5 for display. Printed and bound by L.E.G.O. in full blue buckram blocked in cream and black with design by Smith; blue endleaves. Black slip case.

Josephine Tey, The Franchise Affair. London: The Folio Society,  2020. First printing thus. Introduction by Antonia Fraser, illustrations by Mark Smith. 229 × 150 × 29 mm. Pp. [i–iv] v–xvii [xviii], [1–2] 3–307 [308–310]: [7] leaves of colour plates (facing pp. [iii], 31, 142, 151, 198, 222 and 270). Type: Dante with Station No. 5 for display. Printed and bound by L.E.G.O. in full pale grey buckram blocked in cream and black with design by Smith; dark grey endleaves. Black slip case.

All near-fine books with straight corners, pages tightly bound and free of inscriptions. In like slipcases that may show a hint of shelf-wear, but are otherwise clean, without bumps and structurally sound. A lovely set.