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THE THIN MAN
by Hammett, Dashiell
- Used
- first
- Condition
- Near fine in near-fine jacket.
- Seller
-
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934. First edition (stated). Near fine in near-fine jacket.. First printing of Hammett's final novel, an unusually nice copy of a book difficult to find in collectible condition. Hammett first began THE THIN MAN in 1930, writing in his comfortable wheelhouse of a San Francisco hard-boiled detective navigating a dark plot, but soon set the book aside. When he returned to it, Hammett moved the setting to New York and made his hero a famous but retired sleuth who is pulled reluctantly into intrigue. The added comedy and style in this revision translated surprisingly well on screen, with the 1934 film adaptation garnering four Oscar nominations and, today, legendary status.
THE THIN MAN first appeared in expurgated form in REDBOOK a month before its publication in book form here. According to Nathan Ward, "the first chapters had actually made the magazine rounds without a bite for several months - turned down by one editor after another over the book's apparent hard-drinking lewdness and amorality - before REDBOOK bought the rights." A core work by one of the founders of American noir. 7.5'' x 5''. Original green cloth stamped in blue and red. In original unclipped ($2.00) photographic dust jacket with green spine and green title. Purple topstain. [8], 259, [1] pages. Typical fading to green cloth around margins. Jacket with closed tear at front flap, touch of rubbing to extremities, and some fading to spine: topstain very dark.
THE THIN MAN first appeared in expurgated form in REDBOOK a month before its publication in book form here. According to Nathan Ward, "the first chapters had actually made the magazine rounds without a bite for several months - turned down by one editor after another over the book's apparent hard-drinking lewdness and amorality - before REDBOOK bought the rights." A core work by one of the founders of American noir. 7.5'' x 5''. Original green cloth stamped in blue and red. In original unclipped ($2.00) photographic dust jacket with green spine and green title. Purple topstain. [8], 259, [1] pages. Typical fading to green cloth around margins. Jacket with closed tear at front flap, touch of rubbing to extremities, and some fading to spine: topstain very dark.
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
- Type Punch Matrix
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 39893
- Title
- THE THIN MAN
- Author
- Hammett, Dashiell
- Book Condition
- Used - Near fine in near-fine jacket.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition (stated)
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1934
- Keywords
- 20th century,Mystery,Books to Film
Terms of Sale
Type Punch Matrix
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About the Seller
Type Punch Matrix
Biblio member since 2020
Silver Spring, Maryland
About Type Punch Matrix
Type Punch Matrix is a rare book firm founded by Rebecca Romney and Brian Cassidy. TPM is a member firm of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and upholds their Code of Ethics.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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....
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- 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...
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