LE FANU, J. Sheridan (1814-1873). The Watcher and Other Weird Stories. London: Downey and Co., [1894]. 8vo. 271, [1, colophon], [7, ads] pp. Publisher's illustrated gray cloth stamped gilt and black. FIRST EDITION OF LE FANU'S POSTHUMOUS COLLECTION OF STORIES, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR'S SON.

Considered a seminal volume in the history of "weird fiction" (even including "weird" in the title), almost all of the titles included are reprinted from Le Fanu's The Purcell Papers, a group of stories purporting to be the work of an 18th-Century Catholic priest named Father Purcell, including the first sealed-room mystery to appear in English literature. The only story not from the Papers, "The Watcher," is one of Le Fanu's most famous pieces, considered by M. R. James the best ghost story ever written. Housed in custom clamshell box. 

Boards lightly soiled and discolored, spine toned. Bookseller's plate on front pastedown, light toning, gutters starting. Despite this, a bright, excellent copy.