The Thinking Machine, being a true and complete statement of several intricate mysteries which came under the obsercation of Professor Augustus S.F.X Van Dusen, PhD, LL.d, F.R.S., MD., etc. FIRST U.K. EDITION.

Half title, front. & plates; the odd spot. E.ps browned with grey paper remnant on leading pastedown. Orig. red pictorial cloth, blocked in black & white, spine lettered in gilt; spine dulled & worn, cloth sl. bubbled, dampstain to following board. Bookseller's ticket of P. J. Bateman, Hastings, on leading pastedown. A good copy only. Copac lists four copies of this edition in BL, NLS, Cambridge and National Trust. Seven short mystery stories, all featuring savant Professor Augustus Van Dusen, a.k.a 'the Thinking Machine', an American Sherlock Holmes character who solves mysteries with the deduction of pure logic. Stories comprise: 'The Problem of Cell 13', 'The Scarlet Thread', 'The Man Who Was Lost', 'The Great Auto Mystery', 'The Flaming Phantom', 'The Ralston Bank Burglary', and 'The Mystery of a Studio'. 'The Flaming Phantom' sees reporter Hutchinson Hatch scope out a haunted house with all the trappings of a ghost story: demoniacal laughter, ominous groans, and an eight foot figure who wanders around the grounds alight in ghostly flames. American journalist Jacques Futrelle, 1875-1912, is best known for this collection of mystery stories. After touring around Europe to promote this work and visiting English publishers, he decided to return home in 1912. He boarded the RMS Titanic, and in refusing a spot in a lifeboat in favour of his wife, died in the disaster.…