Guy Boothby — Pharos the Egyptian

London, Ward, Lock, and Co, 1899. First edition. Cloth. The first edition of Australian novelist Guy Boothby's sensational supernatural tale about a sinister Egyptian sorcerer. Illustrated throughout. The first edition of this work.Illustrated with a frontispiece and a further eleven plates by John H. Bacon. Collated, complete.A Gothic work of horror fiction following artist Cyril Forrester who becomes entangled with the sinister Egyptian sorcerer Pharos, and his beautiful ward Valerie. Forrester is manipulated into accompanying them to Egypt where Pharos reveals his true identity as the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian magician seeking revenge against Europe for the plundering of Egyptian antiquities. Pharos uses Forrester as an unwitting accomplice in spreading a deadly plague across Europe.With eight pages of publisher's advertisements to the rear. Presentation inscription to front free endpaper.Described by Barron as 'the most luridly inventive of Boothby's melodramas&apos. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Boards bright, with bumping to back strip head and tail. Front hinge strained, but firmly held. Inscription to front pastedown. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright and generally clean, with the odd spot to page perimeters. Very Good . Ill.: John H. Bacon. Very Good .