London: Elkin Mathews, 1896. First edition, first printing, second issue. This is a near fine copy. In the original blue cloth with the title and author's name stamped in bronze, also featuring a striking spiderweb design. It is generally sharp at the corners and with little wear to note. Second issue, as it features Beardsley's Portrait of the Author, rather than the elusive Black Coffee frontispiece. Internally, there are very few spots. The tissue guard is intact and notably clean. The text blocks, rough-cut at the side edge, are remarkably clean. Overall, this is a near fine copy of an increasingly scarce title. A novel of dysfunctional family and psychological terror. In the prefatory note, the author writes that: Nature is often sensational in effects the significance of which we are unable to ignore. Some may barely tolerate such sensation; some hanker after comic relief or the restful padding of a love interest; perhaps but a few will understand a tragedy disclosed in torn cries, in embarrassed silences, in unconscious words. Divided into three books: An Arabian Night's Story, The Cynic and The Tragedy of a Brain.