Les 13 Coupables (With) Les 13 Enigmes (With) Les 13 Mysteres.

GEORGES SIMENON

Publication: All three volumes published in Paris: Artheme Fayard & Co, 1932,

All are first editions in the original photographic wrappers. The first title, LES 13 COUPABLES (THE THIRTEEN CULPRITS) is the exceedingly rare Queen's Quorum 85 and cited in QUEEN'S QUORUM, "In 1932 Georges Simenon wrote three books of short stories which the late Alexander Woollcott regarded so highly that he included all three in his recommended library of detective fiction. The best contains the precise and pithy investigations of examining magistrate Froget in LES 13 COUPABLES (The Thirteen Culprits). The two other books in the series are LES 13 ENIGMES (The Thirteen Enigmas) about G.7, and LES 13 MYSTERES (The Thirteen Mysteries) about armchair detective Joseph Leborgne, both issued in 1932 by Artheme Fayard." Each book in this trilogy is a short story collection and only the first in the series has been published in an English translation edition as THE 13 CULPRITS. In 1951 when QUEEN'S QUORUM was first published these volumes were regarded as being rare, and during the intervening 57 years they can now be regarded as being exceedingly rare. The first volume has a small bookseller's label on the bottom edge of the front cover and a partial sticker over the original price on the spine, else a very good copy. The second volume has light wear to the spine ends and lightly creased on bottom edge of the front cover, else a very good copy. The third volume is lightly cocked with light wear to spine ends, else a very good copy. All three volumes are housed in a cloth slipcase with titles stamped in black contrast on the spine.

Inventory Number: 43690