I, The Jury by SPILLANE, MICKEY - 1947

New York: Dutton, 1947. First Edition; advance copy of the author's first book in publisher’s wrappers. Aside from a small chip at the bottom of the spine and the front wrapper, very good. Before the book made the trip from the printer to the bindery, the publisher bound the sheets in the dust jacket, without the flaps. These were certainly issued in small numbers for limited distribution to booksellers, reviewers and salespeople. The latter decades of the 20th century brought a deluge of advance copies as these became inexpensive to produce and release in huge numbers, but those from an earlier period, uncommon to begin with, often perished due to their ephemeral nature.