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Thin Man
by HAMMETT, Dashiell
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Beverly Hills, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934. First edition. Octavo. [x], [259], [1, colophon], [2, blank] pp.
Original pale green cloth decorated in red and blue. Covers faded as always, with some very minor wear to head and tail of spine. In the publisher's red-variant pictorial dust jacket (with "Recommended by the Book-of-the-Month Club" sticker affixed, jacket with reviews on the upper inner flap and priced at $2.00 net). Jacket is very bright, with just minor chipping at extremities of the creases. A minor crease down the jacket spine. Some small color touch-ups to the jacket spine extremities. There are four variants of the jacket, of no established priority. Previous owner's small bookplate on front pastedown. Overall, an about fine copy with none of the usual fading to the spine of the jacket.
"The Thin Man offered another sleuth, Nick Charles, who was to become as well known as Sam Spade" (Benet, The Reader's Encycopedia). The Thin Man introduces the married detectives Nick and Nora Charles; although they were featured in a series of six films, Hammett never wrote a sequel to the novel.
Layman A6.1a.
HBS 68351.
$5,000.
Original pale green cloth decorated in red and blue. Covers faded as always, with some very minor wear to head and tail of spine. In the publisher's red-variant pictorial dust jacket (with "Recommended by the Book-of-the-Month Club" sticker affixed, jacket with reviews on the upper inner flap and priced at $2.00 net). Jacket is very bright, with just minor chipping at extremities of the creases. A minor crease down the jacket spine. Some small color touch-ups to the jacket spine extremities. There are four variants of the jacket, of no established priority. Previous owner's small bookplate on front pastedown. Overall, an about fine copy with none of the usual fading to the spine of the jacket.
"The Thin Man offered another sleuth, Nick Charles, who was to become as well known as Sam Spade" (Benet, The Reader's Encycopedia). The Thin Man introduces the married detectives Nick and Nora Charles; although they were featured in a series of six films, Hammett never wrote a sequel to the novel.
Layman A6.1a.
HBS 68351.
$5,000.
Synopsis
Dashiell Samuel Hammett was born in St. Mary’s County. He grew up in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Hammett left school at the age of fourteen and held several kinds of jobs thereafter—messenger boy, newsboy, clerk, operator, and stevedore, finally becoming an operative for Pinkerton’s Detective Agency. Sleuthing suited young Hammett, but World War I intervened, interrupting his work and injuring his health. When Sergeant Hammett was discharged from the last of several hospitals, he resumed detective work. He soon turned to writing, and in the late 1920s Hammett became the unquestioned master of detective-story fiction in America. In The Maltese Falcon (1930) he first introduced his famous private eye, Sam Spade. The Thin Man (1932) offered another immortal sleuth, Nick Charles. Red Harvest (1929), The Dain Curse (1929), and The Glass Key (1931) are among his most successful novels. During World War II, Hammett again served as sergeant in the Army, this time for more than two years, most of which he spent in the Aleutians. Hammett’s later life was marked in part by ill health, alcoholism, a period of imprisonment related to his alleged membership in the Communist Party, and by his long-time companion, the author Lillian Hellman, with whom he had a very volatile relationship. His attempt at autobiographical fiction survives in the story “Tulip,” which is contained in the posthumous collection The Big Knockover (1966, edited by Lillian Hellman). Another volume of his stories, The Continental Op (1974, edited by Stephen Marcus), introduced the final Hammett character: the “Op,” a nameless detective (or “operative”) who displays little of his personality, making him a classic tough guy in the hard-boiled mold—a bit like Hammett himself.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Heritage Book Shop, LLC
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 68351
- Title
- Thin Man
- Author
- HAMMETT, Dashiell
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1934
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- American Literature|Modern Firsts|Mystery and Detective Fiction
Terms of Sale
Heritage Book Shop, LLC
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Heritage Book Shop, LLC
Biblio member since 2006
Beverly Hills, California
About Heritage Book Shop, LLC
Owned and operated by Ben Weinstein, who has been in the business of antiquarian books for over fifty years, Heritage Book Shop\'s inventory consists of some of the finest items in the areas of first editions, early printed books, bindings, illustrated books, literature, and manuscripts. Heritage Book Shop serves a clientele base consisting of private collectors as well as esteemed public institutions. We take great pride in the dedication we offer our clients. Whether you are building a first-rate collection of a favorite author or an extensive library, we look forward to offering the experience of our knowledgeable and helpful staff.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Chipping
- A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Tail
- The heel of the spine.
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