Creator
Old Sleuth
Title
A Double Crime, The Fastest Boy in New York, The Man Trapper
Coverage
Chicago
Publisher
Royal Publishing Co.,
Date
1908
Subject
Three books by Old Sleuth with cover art mimicking the look of William Gillette
Description
Three examples from this Royal Publishing series notable for the stark cover figure, a look-alike of Steele’s iconic detective, with bold typographic treatment. Royal varied the look of the series by changing typefaces and colors: black type on green, black type on white, and most lurid of all, taxi-cab yellow on black. While most of the 60 titles in this series are undated, there’s a curious bibliographic detail in A Double Crime and The Fastest Boy in New York. The title page in both attributes the copyright to another publisher: “Copyright, 1908, by Kerner & Getts Co.”
Source
The Sherlock Holmes Detective Library