Ernest Bramah News

Ernest Bramah News

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22 Apr 2006

I have not had the time to modify the bibliography, but I at least have my new additions catalogued. Here are three; I have not yet verified some of these assertions:

Bramah, Ernest (appearance in Chapman's Magazine) The Story of Yung Chang 1896 Chapman & Hall UK. First appearance of Kai Lung. Very good in pictorial wrappers.
Bramah, Ernest (appearance in The Penny Magazine) The Marquise Ring 1906 Cassell UK. First and only appearance of this short story. Fine in printed wrappers.
Bramah, Ernest (appearance in The Lady's Realm) Hautepierre's Star 1909 Hutchinson UK. First appearance of this short story. Very good in pictorial wrappers.

I've also acquired a couple of books inscribed to Bramah, including one from a publisher. Unfortunately, I do not know how these were originally obtained.

12 Apr 2006

I have received the following email from Hilary Fairfield: "A recent letter in 'The Daily Telegraph' by Aubrey Wilson prompted me to access the message board again. I had not realised before that my message from 2000 had generated interest. I have undertaking some research on Ernest's life and have recorded recollections of Ernest’s niece and nephew by marriage (i.e. my mother and her brother - now 85 and 90 respectively). However, the material is still relatively sketchy, but does add some personal perspectives. Dr Wilson is now in contact with my mother and is hoping to meet him to share the information we do have."
This is great news to Bramah enthusiasts. There are more than you might think; many have contacted me privately rather than via the message board.

15 Mar 2006

Dr. Wilson has sent me a photocopy of a letter he wrote that was printed in the London Daily Telegraph of March 11, 2006, entitled The mysterious creator of Kai Lung. You can read it online here, or view a scan of it here.

07 Feb 2006

I have received several previously unrecorded story publications, and will be renumbering the story list, starting with #1, as I have what is apparently the very first publication of a Kai Lung story from 1896. I have also been remiss in keeping the books bibliography up to date, as I have found several new variants.

09 Jul 2004

I have been contacted by Dr. Aubrey Wilson, who is working on a comprehensive biography of Ernest Bramah. I am working on sending him copies and scans of all the relevant material I have at hand.
This includes an article I found in a book I received just two days ago. It is two full pages (one sheet) clipped from The Listener magazine from 29 May 1947 (pp841-842), "The Recluse who created Kai Lung" by John Connell. You can view scans of the two pages here and here. The pages were yellowed, but I think all the text is readable (note that IE6 might shrink the picture to fit your screen; restore the size to read the text.) The photograph in the article may not have been published elsewhere.

21 Feb 2004

I received something I did not think I would find for any reasonable amount; Strand magazine containing B.19a. It's difficult because it contains a Sherlock Holmes story, and it seems that most copies offered have been bound into books. The cover has a huge blurb about the Carrados story, testifying to his popularity at the time.

17 Feb 2004

I found two more previously unrecorded appearances of B.48.

09 Feb 2004

I found a copy of "Chou the Alluring" in Mercury Magazine Aug 1927; B.24a.

06 Feb 2004

I found another previously unrecorded appearance of a Bramah story; B.48b.
I have obtained a copy of A Little Flutter with the very rare dust wrapper.

03 Jan 2003

I have added a Miscellaneous section for the odd Bramah appearances.

03 Dec 2002

I found yet another unrecorded publication; the short story "The Story of Yung Chang" (B48.)
I also finally found a copy of the House of Fire Press edition of The Wallet of Kai Lung.
Finally, a brief one-page excerpt from Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat in The Fox Hunter's Week-End Book, even though the passage has nothing to do with hunting. I'm not sure where, or if, to include this in the bibliography.

08 Sep 2002

I received a photocopy of the Bramah obituary from 1942 written by Staniland. You can view a scan; eventually I hope to transcribe it. Unfortunately, I cannot remember who sent it to me! Please advise.

30 Jul 2002

I received the Lythway edition of The Eyes of Max Carrados. These editions seem quite scarce.

14 Jul 2002

I received the Argosy 1945 issue. Finding the periodicals is extremely difficult.

22 Jun 2002

I received a copy of the 1926 Nelson edition of The Secret of the League in a beautiful dust wrapper. It's amazing that after 20 years of searching, two jackets should show up within a month of each other. Interestingly, the jacket is wrapped around a first Nelson edition, rather than the second edition. It's possible they reverted to the old page block and binding decorations for the later printing, but I strongly doubt it. It seems much more likely that this jacket was added to the book at a later time, so I still can't verify if the later printing books are identical. Still, it was wonderful finding the jacket. The two prices on the jacket are covered by stickers, so I can't verify the published price. It looks like the sticker price is in Francs.

09 Jun 2002

Robert W. Franson has posted a review of The Secret of the League on his website.
I received a copy of the 1907 Nelson edition of The Secret of the League in a beautiful dust wrapper; now one of the prizes of my collection.
Modified the web format to allow for frames. Let me know what you think.

02 Sep 2001

Colin Taylor's excellent "Colin's Taels" website has moved to http://home.freeuk.net/ctol2001/, and he has added the short story "The Story of Sing Tsung and the Exponent of Dark Magic" (B.40), previously available only in the original Punch magazine publication, and the scarce Kai Lung: Six collection.
I have imported this website into an HTML editing program, which will make future updates much easier, and hence more frequent. Please let me know if you find anything amiss.

10 Jun 2001
- Michael Wahl reports that The Max Carrados Portfolio has been published by Silicon Dispatch in December 2000. This volume contains all the stories from Max Carrados, The Eyes of Max Carrados, and Max Carrados Mysteries as well as The Bunch of Violets and Smothered in Corpses from The Specimen Case, and The Bravo of London. There is an introduction by Douglas G. Greene and a brief essay by Robert Adey on Ernest Bramah's Other Detective (being Peter Coppinger from A Little Flutter). This is a large volume, measuring 11 1/4" by 8 3/4" and totaling 405 pages. This would appear to be the best news for fans of Bramah and Carrados in some time.
03 Jan 2001

John Betancourt of Wildside Press has announced that their new edition of Kai Lung's Golden Hours is now available at some online bookstores.

11 Dec 2000
- Wildside Press will soon be publishing Kai Lung's Golden Hours. John Betancourt says it has just gone to the printers. You can see a preview of the front cover here. Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat is also slated to appear. Each will be $15.95.
06 Dec 2000
- There is a very interesting page devoted to Ernest Bramah at the Great Science-Fiction and Fantasy Works website. "By our reckoning, Bramah is one of only 11 'grand masters' of the field."
25 Oct 2000
- Colin Taylor has much of interest to the Bramah devotee on his CTOL website, including an original story in the Kai Lung style.
09 Jan 2000
- I've added a few more scans of books, and one more hitherto unlisted appearance: Ellery Queen's Eyes of Mystery.
- I found multiple references to Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat in Thorne Smith's delightful book The Stray Lamb, first published in 1929.
01 Jan 2000
- I have added The Willow Plate Embellishment short story to the bibliography, necessitating the renumbering of the short stories starting at B44. This was a hitherto unrecorded appearance.
27 Dec 1999
24 Dec 1999
- I have added images of the very scarce wartime era Penguin editions of Max Carrados and The Eyes of Max Carrados, as well as The Detective In Fiction (incorrectly listed as published in 1938) and The Pocket Book of Mystery Stories, previously unlisted. I have also obtained variant bindings of The Eyes of Max Carrados and Short Stories of To-day and Yesterday.
- This site has received the Violet Bookmark Award for "excellence in coverage of vintage genre literature ." I can recommend the Violet Books website to anyone interested in such books.
4 Dec 1999
- I have received a previous unrecorded variant copy of the first edition of The Eyes of Max Carrados The binding is a different color, as are the markings. In addition, the page width is shorter than noted, although I do not have another copy to check it personally.
16 Sep 1999
- Just received an autograph signed letter (ALS) dated 1923, from Bramah to to Chicago literary editor Llewellyn Jones, a brief note in response to an "all too generous" review of one of his (unnamed) Kai Ling books: "Late in the day as it is, will you please accept my sincere thanks for your very valuable notice -- "notices" I should say for I see that it also appears in the Rocky Mountain News." I'm having trouble deciphering the rest of the letter; perhaps you will have better luck. Front and verso.
29 May 1999
- Found a previously unknown edition of The Mirror of Kong Ho (A4d), published by Lythway in 1971. Also posted an image of A13c. More to come.
01 May 1999
- A recent book by Peter Lovesey, Upon a Dark Night (1997 London: Little, Brown) includes an epigraph from Kai Lung's Golden Hours. Read about it here. I've ordered the book and will report when I have more info.
- I've received a number of previously unrecorded Bramah editions, anthology and magazine appearances in the last month. I hope to have them posted by next weekend.
27 Mar 1999
- The electronic text for Kai Lung's Golden Hours has been "published" by Project Gutenberg, dated April 1998. Thanks to Neil Taylor for letting me know.
12 Mar 1999
- I recently received a book that I'm very excited about; The Wallet of Kai Lung published by Grant Richards in the U.K. This is an edition I had never seen mentioned before; a "Colonial Edition" with binding that is completely different from the U.K. first and second impressions, or the U.S. first from the same sheets. It states "Grant Richards's Colonial Library" on the front cover, and the page opposite the title page states "for distribution only in India and the colonies." It is similar to the 1st impression (1900) in both the spine labelling and the presence of a half-title page. However, it is the same thickness as the 2nd impression (1903). I have a few colonial editions of other books (from the 1940's), but those are indicated as such only on the inside. Were there other books in the "Grant Richards's Colonial Library"?
01 Mar 1999
- I just received a hitherto unlisted appearance of "The Missing Witness", apparently the first appearance, preceding its publication in Max Carrados Mysteries. It is in an obscure (to me) magazine called Flynn's Weekly, "Detective Fiction with the Thrill of Truth."
- I've also ordered a copy of the "Colonial Edition" India of The Wallet of Kai Lung, and I'll be very interested to see how it differs from the first and second issues; I have not found any prior reference to this edition.
24 Feb 1999
- I received hitherto unlisted appearances of "The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor", "The Comedy at Fountain Cottage", and "The Curious Circumstance of the Two Left Shoes" in one anthology from 1929. It seems to have been a rather popular anthology, and with three Bramah stories in one volume, I am surprised it was previously overlooked.
- Lawrence Person has supplied two additional articles for the Biography and Criticism section.
23 Feb 1999
- I received a hitherto unlisted appearance of "Kin Yen the Picture Maker" in the anthology Fifty Enthralling Stories of the Mysterious East, published by The India Times. This was a very exciting find for me, especially since the dust jacket was in decent condition.
- I also received a copy of Howard Haycraft's anthology The Boy's Second Book of Great Detective Stories, published in 1940, containing "The Game Played in the Dark." This book was apparently reprinted many times, and I'll be adding that information soon.
16 Nov 1998
- Received a hitherto unlisted appearance of "The Last Exploits of Harry the Actor" in the April 1964 issue of The Saint Mystery Magazine
23 Oct 1998
- Jon Jackson has found the first edition of Sayers' The Omnibus of Crime, containing The Ghost at Massingham Mansions, issued ten years prior to the copy I had found.
- I found a previously unrecorded printing of The Bunch of Violets by browsing the Los Angeles Public Library website.
21 Oct 1998
- I have received a previously unrecorded second printing of the first edition of The Specimen Case. The copyright page indicates that the first printing was in September 1924, a month earlier than previously thought.
22 Jun 1998
- Jack Eckert has provided the following information:
  - Regarding the mention in Dorothy L. Sayers' Busman's Honeymoon: This appears in Chapter 7 (p. 125 of the New York Harper & Bros. ed.) where Lord Peter Wimsey, his wife, Harriet, and a police superintendent are all capping each others' quotations while considering the whys and wherefores of a murder.
    - "As another great mind so happily put it, 'However entrancing it is to wander through a garden of bright images, are we not enticing your mind from another subject of almost equal importance?"
    - "What's that?" said the Superintendent. "That's a new one on me. 'Garden of bright images,' eh? That's pretty, that is."
    - "Kai Lung," said Harriet.
    - "Golden Hours of," said Peter. "Ernest Bramah."
    - "Make a note o' that for me, will you, Joe? 'Bright images'-----That's just what you get in poetry, isn't it? Pictures, as you might say. And in a garden too-----what you'd call flowers of fancy, I dessay."
  - And just to complete the proof that Sayers was a Bramah fan, in her previous novel, Gaudy Night (chapter 15), Peter Wimsey describes his reading in this way:
    - "My tastes are fairly catholic. It might easily have been Kai Lung or Alice in Wonderland or Machiavelli-----"
  - One of her earliest Peter Wimsey mysteries, Clouds of Witness (1927) quotes the following as its epigraph:
    - The inimitable stories of Tong-King never have any real ending, and this one, being in his most elevated style, has even less end than most of them. But the whole narrative is permeated with the odour of joss-sticks and honourable high-mindedness, and the two characters are both of noble birth.
9 Jun 1998
- My monthly random search of the Web has turned up a few Bramah references in Christopher Morley's collection of papers and manuscripts in the Special Collections of Haverford College. There are three mentions, all in accession #2, box 22:
  - 56. Mitchell, E[dward] P. (editor of N.Y. Sun) to CDM. Kenyon, R.I., September 12, 1922 [praises a book by Bramah].
  - 59. M[iles], H[amish] to CDM. [London, Eng.], Nov. 23, 1922. [has sent Morley Ernest Bramah's The Wallet of Kai-Lung; his Oxford Circus has had good press.]
  - 64. Bramah, Ernest to CDM. London, [Eng.], 10 Jan. 1923.
  The last item would be especially interesting to read. Morley's Translations from the Chinese (1932) is of interest to anyone who enjoys Bramah.
- I have also found a copy of The Probation of Hen Seng printed in an anthology of humour along with Wodehouse and others. I am awaiting word on date and publisher.
- I added four more modern appearances of Bramah stories, including one from last month. Apparently he still enjoys some popularity, at least among editors.
28 May 1998

Stephen E. DeLong is trying to research the origin of "May you live in interesting times" commonly attributed as an "ancient Chinese curse." Someone has suggested it can be found in one of the Kai Lung stories, but I cannot recall if this is true. If you have any information regarding this phrase please contact Stephen or myself. The current findings can be found at http://hawk.fab2.albany.edu/sidebar/sidebar.htm.

24 May 1998

I have found later printings of the Methuen edition of The Wallet Of Kai Lung that conflict with the previous bibliographical information, and have changed the Books page accordingly. In particular, there are now eight documented printings.
I also found the apparently scarce Bodley Head first Penguin printing of The Wallet of Kai Lung.

9 May 1998

Reported to me: "On a mailing list for mystery fiction fans a contributor mentioned that the classic Dorothy L. Sayers' novel Busman's Honeymoon makes a passing reference to Bramah's Kai Lung's Golden Hour as favorite reading material of one of her characters." I believe the character is Lord Peter Wimsey.

19 Mar 1998

Ulysses in London just listed two Bramah books:
The Bravo of London Cassell 1934 for £ 875 in rather ragged condition, but with dust wrapper. This is only the second copy I've ever seen offered (I purchased the first.) The only other copy I know of is in the Thomas Fisher Rare Library in Toronto, and a dust wrapper is not listed.
Kai Lung Beneath The Mulberry-Tree The Richards Press Ltd. 1940 for £ 60, also in ragged dust wrapper.
I've purchased Bramah books from Ulysses before, and have been well satisfied.

05 Mar 1998

John Webb and others have added a number of Bramah books to the ABE book site; a total of 436 at last count.

14 Feb 1998

I now have all six issues of Punch containing Bramah stories, thanks to John Webb. If you are looking for hard-to-find British books or magazines, I suggest you contact him. Descriptions and scans have been added to the Short Story Bibliography page.
John also sent me the July 1997 issue of Book and Magazine Collector magazine, which contains an article by Mark Valentine (and note today's date) on collecting Ernest Bramah. It is interesting to read, although there are no new revelations, and the prices he quotes for the first editions seem far lower than what is currently available, unfortunately.

31 Jan 1998

TBCL is offering a copy of Moon of Much Gladness, in dust wrapper, along with an 2-page ALS (autographed letter signed) dated 25 Sep 1931. You can get a complete description on ABE. The letter includes the following interesting content:
"You say that you would be interested to know which of my books I consider 'the best'. But surely it is an understood thing that really modest authors do not speak of their 'best' (except for trade purposes such as anthologies, etc.) but diffidently refer to 'my best bad book' or some pleasing evasion of that sort. However, even putting that aside there are difficulties to complicate the simple issue. Best? Well, my 'Guide to the Varieties and Rarities of English Regal Copper Coins' is undoubtedly a better book on the subject of copper coins than my 'English Farming' is on the state of British agriculture. But as you have probably never heard of either book and I am afraid that they will not interest you. Let us say that if I happen to be sending someone a 'Kai Lung' book and wished to put the best face on the matter it would probably be 'Kai Lung's Golden Hours' and if a 'Max Carrados' book it would almost certainly not be 'The Eyes Of Max Carrados'"
TBCL also has a presentation copy of Max Carrados signed in Mattie Bramah's (Ernest's wife) hand, and a presentation copy signed in Bramah's hand of the first edition second issue of The Wallet of Kai Lung.

13 Jan 1998

Ray Lisle has provided me with a scan to a previously unrecorded later (1940) printing of Penguin #174. It appears identical except for a full advertisement on the rear cover. Apparently #174 went through a continuous metamorphosis from 1939 to 1954, with the only other change noted being the number of pages. I don't know what is bibliographically correct, but I will divide the two editions at the point when the number of pages changed (assuming it changed only once.)

7 Jan 1998

Mark Daley has informed me that Project Gutenberg now has two Bramah books converted to plain text ("EText"); The Wallet of Kai Lung and The Mirror of Kong Ho. I have added references to them to the Books page, including links to the texts themselves. Note that it is illegal to access these texts in some countries, perhaps including Great Britain (where it is claimed copyright protection for Bramah extends to the year 2012.) I think ETexts are a mixed blessing; they are great for research, but they lessen the reading experience compared to a physical book. Perhaps I'm just an old fogey.

6 Jan 1998

I just received a copy of English Regal Copper Coins, a rather difficult to find book. I have uploaded two scans, which you can see on the Books page. I'm getting closer to completing the collection!

18 Dec 1997

I just received a second copy of the Nelson reprint of What Might Have Been, with marked differences from the first copy. Judging by rather flimsy evidence, I have determined a precedence; please take a look at the Books page and tell me what you think.

18 Nov 1997

John Webb has found a previously unrecorded eighth printing of the Traveller's Library edition of Kai Lung's Golden Hours in dust wrapper, now shown on the Books page. I'm saving up for it, but I won't be too angry if you beat me to it.

7 Nov 1997

I finally obtained the limited edition of The Wallet of Kai Lung in dust wrapper (thanks to Dave Kurzman!) I have added a scan to the Books Bibliography page. Coincidentally, it is the same number as my copy of Kai Lung's Golden Hours, which is pretty amazing when you consider the odds.

31 Oct 1997

I have discovered three early Max Carrados stories presented in their entirety on the web. Links are provided on the Short Story Bibliography page. I have also added a recent (1991) article on Bramah's body of work to the Biography and Criticism Bibliography page, along with a link to the entire text on the web. The article claims that copyright on Bramah's work extends until the year 2012. I have notified the poster of the short stories of this claim.

28 Oct 1997

I finally completed the re-formatting, re-arranging and re-numbering of the Short Story Bibliography page. I'm not convinced ordering by publication date is the most useful, but it seems to be the standard method. I welcome your comments.

14 Oct 1997

I found a previously unrecorded edition of The Wallet of Kai Lung (A.3.h) in Australia, of all places. I'm excited!
John Webb reports that "Max Carrados" was the answer on a recent BBC quiz show.

4 Oct 1997

Tall Stories has just listed two nice Bramah books in dust wrappers:

Kai Lung's Golden Hours. NY: Doran, 1923. 1st U.S. edition. Blindstamped surname on title page otherwise v.good in v.good dj. Book# 1179 US$ 100.00
Short Stories of To-day and Yesterday. Lon: Harrap, 1929. Fine copy in close to fine jacket. Uncommon this nice. Book# 1174 US$ 100.00. [This is the one in maroon cloth.]

26 Sep 1997

I just found a catalog that lists a Bramah story in a 1951 Ellery Queen magazine. Unfortunately, it had already sold, so I have no idea which one. If you find any stories not listed on the web page, please let me know. I suspect that quite a few were reprinted over the years.
I have also found out that works by Bramah are being managed by an A. P. Watt company in the U.K., which may mean his earliest works are still copyrighted. Unfortunately, I could not find an email address for them.

17 Sep 1997

I have obtained additional books from John Webb. The "controversy" over the true first edition of What Might Have Been has, I think, been put to rest.
I have also received a book with an introduction by Bramah; Honourable and Peculiar Ways by Peh Der Chen, which is a Chinese view of London (apparently similar to The Mirror of Kong Ho, but in a more serious vein.) I will add it to the bibliography as soon as I figure out where it should go.
The Celestial Omnibus rounds out the additions to the Books page.
I have also received The Bravo of London, and am eagerly looking forward to reading it; the only edition ever printed.
I have received Kai Lung stories in two Punch magazines from 1940; I will add them to the Stories page as soon as may be

12 Sep 1997

I've added several new entries in Appearances in Periodicals and Anthologies, including one from March 1997, as well as several new images.

10 Sep 1997

Details on the Max Carrados radio shows on BBC 4, from the BBC website:

Saturday, 12 July 1997 8:50pm

Saturday Night Theatre: The Eyes of Max Carrados By E Bramah, dramatised by Bert Coules. 1923. A desperate girl tries to clear her father, and only the celebrated blind detective Max Carrados can do it. With Simon Callow as Max and Lionel Jeffries as Parkinson. With Teresa Gallagher, Matthew Marsh and Philip Glenister. Director Alan Drury.

Saturday, 19 July 1997 8:50pm

Saturday Night Theatre: The Ingenious Mind of Rigby Lacksome By Ernest Bramah, dramatised by Sue Rodwell. A blind detective tangles with suffragettes and the Bard. With Simon Callow as Max and Lionel Jeffries as Parkinson. With Stephen Tompkinson, Lynsey Baxter and Oona Beeson. Director Alan Drury.

Saturday, 26 July 1997 8:50pm

Saturday Night Theatre: The Secret of Headlam Height By Ernest Bramah, dramatised by Roger Danes. The blind detective Max Carrados battles with spies on the eve of the First World War. With Simon Callow as Max and Lionel Jeffries as Parkinson. With Charles Simpson, Brett Usher and Steve Hodson. Director Alan Drury.

I suppose I'll need to start a Dramatisations bibliography (or is it "radiography"?)

31 Aug 1997

I neglected to mention here that dramatisations of some of the Max Carrados mystery stories have recently aired on radio in Great Britain.

16 Jul 1997

John Webb has found a first of Kai Lung's Golden Hours, and has emailed me a scan of the dust jacket.
I have obtained a first edition of The Wallet of Kai Lung, and posted the scan.

10 Jul 1997

John Webb has found a copy of The Bravo Of London, and has emailed me a scan of the dust jacket. You can find it on the Books page.

4 Jul 1997

My own personal Bramah scout in the U.K., John Webb, sez: "I would like other collectors to know that I have access to some hard to find Bramah's (before they are all sold.) If there is sufficient demand I might look into setting up some sort of appreciation society."

30 Jun 1997

I received a copy of the 1985 Hong Kong edition of Kai Lung's Golden Hours, from Australia no less. There are several interesting aspects to the book:

Lethbridge's introduction contains a short but interesting biography of Bramah. I will attempt to get permission to post it here.
The bibliography repeats the error that the Nelson was the first edition of What Might Have Been. I have a copy of that book on order, and I'll compare it with the Murray edition to see if this can finally be settled.
The bibliography also mentions books I was unaware of, and I am not sure what the first two might have to do with Bramah, except as possible influences. Any additional info or sources for these books would be appreciated.

Giles, Herbert A. Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio London: T. de la Rue & Co., 1880.
Giles, Herbert A. Gems of Chinese Literature London: Quaritch, 1884.
Haycraft, Howard Murder For Pleasure NY: D. Appleton-Century, 1941.
Symons, Julian Bloody Murder London: Faber & Faber, 1972.
Watson, Colin Snobbery With Violence London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1971.
Wrong, M.E. 'Introduction' in Crime and Detection London: Oxford University Press, 1926.

27 Jun 1997

I have started this page because of increased interest in the works of Ernest Bramah.
I have been informed that some of the Max Carrados mysteries have been dramatised on U.K. radio, starring Simon Callow. I am trying to obtain more information.
Apparently there is an article on Bramah and his books in this month's 'Book and Magazine Collector', a UK magazine. Quoted from the article:

"The unique qualities of The Wallet of Kai Lung, as well as the scarcity (according to Richards, just 1000 copies were printed) and attractiveness of the first edition, mean that connoisseurs are willing to pay up to GBP150 for a Very Good copy of the book. It's unlikely that any jacketed copies have survived, but should one turn up it might fetch as much as GBP400."

There's also a UK bibliography included at the end.