Speedy by Holman, Russell (novelized by) - [1928]

London: The Readers Library Publishing Company Ltd.. Very Good in Good dj. [1928]. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. [modest shelfwear, light wear to extremities, spine slightly turned but binding intact, one-time owner's name and address in pencil on front pastedown, also at the top of the first text page; the jacket has a few tiny nicks along the edges, with a large chip at the top of the spine, extending into both the front and rear panels; there is also a faintly-inked "3" in the middle of the title on the front panel, probably a previous seller's price]. (Readers Library, no. 219) Series (8 sepia-toned film stills) Small-format British photoplay edition (about the size of a modern-day mass-market paperback), a "Readers Library Film Edition" novelization of the 1928 silent film comedy starring Harold Lloyd, set (and largely filmed) in New York City. Like all the Readers Library titles, these books were ultra-cheaply produced, so finding copies that aren't falling apart is not always easy; this edition has the additional virtue (which not all RL movie tie-ins did) of having a photo section bound in the middle of the book, containing eight full-page sepia-toned scenes from the film; it also includes a 2-page "Editor's Note" at the front of the book, which rather weirdly makes a big deal of what an all-around genius Charlie Chaplin is, while noting that Lloyd's comedy (even though he's also a genius) has "strict limitations"; according to this anonymous editor, whereas Chaplin's films are "both comedy and tragedy -- sensitive pictures of life," Lloyd's are less ambitious -- merely "farces, aimed to produce from start to finish only effect -- rollicking, uninterrupted, care-free laughter." Gee, what a put-down. (NOTE that this has been tagged as no. 219 in the series, but that this number does not appear anywhere on the book or jacket; it was obtained from the Arnie Davis bibliography of photoplay editions. I suspect the included stills are different from those used in the corresponding American (Grosset & Dunlap) edition, although Davis doesn't specifically say so.) .