Click for full-size.
Simple Art of Murder
by Chandler, Raymond Thornton (1888-1959)
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good/About very good
- Seller
-
Fort Worth, Texas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
x+533 pages. Octavo (8 1/4" x 5 3/4") bound in original publisher's beige cloth with brown lettering to spine and cover in original pictorial jacket.
The Simple Art of Murder is hard-boiled detective fiction author Raymond Chandler's critical essay, a magazine article, and his collection of short stories. The essay was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in December 1944. The magazine article appeared in the Saturday Review of Literature, April 15, 1950. The article, somewhat rewritten, served to introduce the collection The Simple Art of Murder, 1950 (Houghton Mifflin Co.), which contained eight of Chandler's early stories pre-dating his first novel, The Big Sleep. The essay is considered a seminal piece of literary criticism. Although Chandler's primary topic is the art (and failings) of detective fiction, he touches on general literature and modern society as well. Chandler reserves his praise for Dashiell Hammett. Although Chandler and Hammett were contemporaries and grouped as the founders of the hard-boiled school, Chandler speaks of Hammett as the "one individual... picked out to represent the whole movement," noting Hammett's mastery of the "American language", his adherence to reality, and that he "gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse."
Condition:
Book plate to front paste-down, spine ends rubbed with a few minor splits, some age toning to edges. Jacket spine sunned, edge wear with some small chips and closed tears and creases, some tape repairs to verso, spine head chipped with tape repair else a very good copy in about a very good jacket.
The Simple Art of Murder is hard-boiled detective fiction author Raymond Chandler's critical essay, a magazine article, and his collection of short stories. The essay was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in December 1944. The magazine article appeared in the Saturday Review of Literature, April 15, 1950. The article, somewhat rewritten, served to introduce the collection The Simple Art of Murder, 1950 (Houghton Mifflin Co.), which contained eight of Chandler's early stories pre-dating his first novel, The Big Sleep. The essay is considered a seminal piece of literary criticism. Although Chandler's primary topic is the art (and failings) of detective fiction, he touches on general literature and modern society as well. Chandler reserves his praise for Dashiell Hammett. Although Chandler and Hammett were contemporaries and grouped as the founders of the hard-boiled school, Chandler speaks of Hammett as the "one individual... picked out to represent the whole movement," noting Hammett's mastery of the "American language", his adherence to reality, and that he "gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse."
Condition:
Book plate to front paste-down, spine ends rubbed with a few minor splits, some age toning to edges. Jacket spine sunned, edge wear with some small chips and closed tears and creases, some tape repairs to verso, spine head chipped with tape repair else a very good copy in about a very good jacket.
Extended Description and Notes
Prefaced by the famous Atlantic Monthly essay of the same name, in which he argues the virtues of the hard-boiled detective novel, this collection mostly drawn from stories he wrote for the pulps demonstrates Chandler's imaginative, entertaining facility with the form.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- The Book Collector ABAA, ILAB, TBA
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- L0669
- Title
- Simple Art of Murder
- Author
- Chandler, Raymond Thornton (1888-1959)
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- About very good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin Company
- Place of Publication
- Boston
- Date Published
- 1950
- Pages
- x+533 pages
- Size
- Octavo
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Mystery, Espionage. Detective and Thriller
- Bookseller catalogs
- Literature;
Terms of Sale
The Book Collector ABAA, ILAB, TBA
All items are guaranteed as described. If an item is
not as described, it is returnable within seven days
of receipt, unless other arrangements are made.
Full refunds given only when items are received in
the same condition in which they were sent.
We require new customers to send payment with
their order. Customers known to us will be invoiced
with payment due in thirty days, unless prior
arrangements are made. Institutions will be billed
to meet their requirements. All items subject to prior
sale.
We accept Visa, Mastercard, and American Express
Please be advised that we can only ship to your billing address.
We accept checks, but may require that the check clears before we ship an order.
Prices of books do not include shipping.
We use UPS domestically and internationally. Other shipping arrangements can be made. Shipping is always charged at cost.
Texas residents must add 8.25% sales tax.
About the Seller
The Book Collector ABAA, ILAB, TBA
Biblio member since 2005
Fort Worth, Texas
About The Book Collector ABAA, ILAB, TBA
The Book Collector specializes in the finest collections of Chess, Anthropology, Americana and American Literature. Visit our website at www.bookcollectorshop.com
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- 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....
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Sunned
- Damage done to a book cover or dust jacket caused by exposure to direct sunlight. Very strong fluorescent light can cause slight...
- Paste-down
- The paste-down is the portion of the endpaper that is glued to the inner boards of a hardback book. The paste-down forms an...
- Plate
- Full page illustration or photograph. Plates are printed separately from the text of the book, and bound in at production. I.e.,...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
Frequently asked questions
This Book’s Categories
What is a professional bookseller?
Just about anyone can sell a book, but a professional bookseller knows the ins and outs of the rare book trade. Learn more!
Collecting Disneyana
Welcome to the wonderful world of collecting Walt Disney! From letters signed by Disney himself to classic children’s books or ephemera, be sure to check out some of the collectible Walt Disney books on Biblio!
