The Thin Man
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934.
First edition, first printing with "seep" for the word "sleep" at p. 209. Bound in publisher's green cloth with spine blocked in red and blue and blue mask motif to upper board. Near Fine with toning to boards in an unusually Fine unclipped dust jacket, completely unrestored, with light rubbing at the extremities and matching "The BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB" recommended sticker. Housed in a custom half leather clamshell case lined in red velvet. A truly superb copy of the author's last novel set in the last days of Prohibition. The novel served as the inspiration for six films, the first of which stars William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles, a martini-loving husband wife crime solving duo. A notice on the front flap prods customers into purchasing the book: "This book will not appear in a cheaper edition before 1935. Whether it does so appear at that time will depend on how large a sale it enjoys during the first two years it is on sale." The encouragement hardly seems necessary; Hammett was an established writer and MGM began negotiating for film rights as soon as the book appeared. Exemplary copies such as this are rarely ever presented in the trade. Layman A6.1.a.
Price: $32,000