High Window, The by Chandler, Raymond - 1942

London: Macmillan, 1977. First edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/fine. A very nice copy of the first Brother Cadfael novel. In this book Edith Pargeter combined her excellent historical novel abilities with her nom-de-plume Ellis Peters' well-constructed mysteries and started the boom in historical mysteries that continues to this day. There are many earlier examples of the form, but this is where it takes off and becomes a major publishing category. Historically important, well written, and a scarce book to find in nice condition. This copy has a previous owner's minuscule inscription on the front free endpaper (signature and date of 10 Dec 77, and the cryptic notation "F.E." indicating it was purchased through British bookseller Francis Edwards Ltd.), and very slight bumping to the spine, both head and tail, creasing the jacket slightly. The jacket is unclipped, and the book was not read more than once or twice. A nice copy of a cornerstone volume. Any photo attached to my listings are of the actual… Read More

New York, U.S.A.: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992. First Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. As New/As New. 1992 Scribner's TRUE FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING with a **SIGNED** bookplate pasted on the half title page. A gorgeous MINT copy in AN/AN condition. BONUS BOOK: The book club edition of "Booked to Die" in Near Fine/Near Fine condition. A great reading copy. ***Brenbooks specializes in first edition mysteries, many signed!***

NY: Alfred Knopf, 1939. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Good/Fair. 1939 Knopf Stated First edition in G+/Fair condition. A classic and very rare true first with a first state DJ! The HB is missing it's ffep and a small square from the rear end paper. The book is unmarked and clean with only minor edge and corner wear. There is a bookseller stamp on the inside board. The unclipped DJ shows a price of $ 2.00 and still has bright coloring. The rear cover is missing a large "V" affecting Ambler's picture and part of the top 1/2 of text. There is wear and minor paper loss at the corners. edges and spine ends. However despite these flaws a solid copy of this elusive mystery!

NY: Morrow, 1932. First edition. Hard cover in original cloth. Author's scarce first book. Published NY: William Morrow Company, 1932, first printing. 8vo., 266pp., purple cloth with yellow titles. Spine and cover edges sunned, pastedowns and a few pages have mild foxing, else clean and bright. Very good. Only eight copies in WorldCat. . 1st. Hard. Very Good/No Jacket. 8vo.

320 pages. Small octavo (7 1/2" x 5 1/4") bound in original publisher's maroon with silver lettering to spine in original pictorial jacket. Jacket design by Fritz Wegner. (Bruccoli A10.1.a.) First edition, first printing. The English edition preceded the American by a few months.Critics and writers, ranging from W. H. Auden to Evelyn Waugh to Ian Fleming, greatly admired the finely wrought prose of Raymond Chandler. Although his swift-moving, hardboiled style was inspired mostly by Dashiell Hammett, his sharp and lyrical similes are original: "The muzzle of the Luger looked like the mouth of the Second Street tunnel"; "The minutes went by on tiptoe, with their fingers to their lips", defining private eye fiction genre, and leading to the coining of the adjective 'Chandleresque', which is subject and object of parody and pastiche. Yet, Philip Marlowe is not a stereotypical tough guy, but a complex, sometimes sentimental man of few friends, who attended university, speaks some Spanish and, at times,… Read More

Portishead, Bristol: UK: Scorpion Press, 1991. 1st ed. A fine, unread copy, in clear protective jacket. Very scarce. ONLY 20 LETTERED DELUXE COPIES were produced for private distribution and were SIGNED BY BOTH GASH and H.R.F. KEATING who wrote the appreciation. This is LETTER "K". Features the likeable antiques trader Lovejoy. Cream leather with light pastel green marble paper sides, hubbed spine, green top edge and tan end papers. Laid in is a note on Scorpion Press letterhead describing the De Luxe Specifications : "The de luxe presentation copies are produced in small numbers as they are intended primarily for the use of the author, contributor, editor, publisher and others associated with the authors work. These books are given a letter rather than a number and are especially handsome, bound in goatskin rather than bonded leather with five raised bands. The spine blocking is horizontal because of the raised bands. In addition these books contain the signature of… Read More

New York: E.P. Dutton, 1947. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 1947 E.P. Dutton Stated TRUE FIRST EDITION of Spillane's 1st mystery with a **SIGNED** CARD of Mickey Spillane tipped in. A VeryGood+ Hardback and VeryGood+ Dustjacket: The HB is very clean and tight with the only real wear being some small chips at the spine ends and tiny bumps at the corners. It is wrapped in a Facsimile DJ also in VG+ condition with almost no wear or marks as well. A VERY RARE COLLECTIBLE! **BONUS** Also receive a Signet paperback of another early book, The Long Wait in Good condition. ***Brenbooks specializes in first edition mysteries, many signed***

Ultramarine Press, 1988. First. Hardbound. a fine bright as issued. here offered is copy letter "E". one of 10 lettered copies signed by Willeford and finely bound in full leather by Denis Gouey. 245 pp.

The original, signed painting by Thorpe for the dust jacket of the trade edition – painting is framed and matted (black frame measures approximately 16 x 12 inches). This art had to be redone at the last possible moment because an editor at Harper decided that the jacket design must include a scene from Washington D.C. The mystery leads Leaphorn and Chee to leave the reservation and investigate in Washington – an unusual twist in the Hillerman mysteries, since the action seldom shifts far from the Navajo Reservation. The plot twist is what led to the decision to redo the jacket art. This painting is the original art, which appeared only on the Advanced Reading Copy of the book, and related early publisher's promotions for the title. There were also a number of proofs of the original jacket.
A number of related items are included with the painting: a Fine, unread copy of the ARC in color wraps, to which Thorpe has added signed art to the half-title page; a front panel of one of an original proof… Read More

Collectors lettered limited edition – this is copy "B" of 26 such books. A Fine, unread book bound in simulated brown leather that has been crafted so that lettering and designs appear to have been hand-tooled to the leather; book is housed in a Fine, matching clamshell box. The over-size book is a beautiful production (box measures 11 ½ by 9 by 2 ½ inches). In addition to the Introduction and Afterword, content includes: All titles of the Arapaho Ten Commandments series; ten other short stories, and two essays. Parks has provided 66 illustrations (many of these are the same as appeared in the Ten Commandments Series. The original drawing for the third illustration ("You are my younger sister, she said") is mounted inside the box, opposite the book. All three authors and Parks have signed on the limitation page. The A.S.A.P. hardcover with jacket and the lettered editions are the true first printing
of this collection – there was a Berkley trade paperback edition in 2013. The trues firsts are… Read More