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THE GLASS KEY
by HAMMETT, DASHIELL
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Greencastle, Pennsylvania, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1931., 1931. First edition. First U. S. edition, preceded by the U. K. edition. A near fine copy in a bright dust jacket with light professional restoration to the spine ends and corners. Paul Madvig is a crooked political boss. Ned Beaumont, his lieutenant and “fixer,†comes upon the dead body of Taylor Henry, son of a prominent senator with whom Madvig has chosen to join forces. Madvig hopes to marry the senator's daughter, while the senator hopes Madvig's political organization can put him over the top in the next election. To complicate matters, some think that Madvig himself murdered young Henry ... Madvig’s daughter, Opal, who was in love with Henry, among them. And someone has been sending anonymous letters to the DA, to Opal, to Senator Henry, and to the newspapers suggesting Madvig’s involvement and calling for action. The basis for two films: one in 1935, starring Edward Arnold, George Raft, and Claire Dodd, and one in 1942, starring Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake, and Alan Ladd. Housed in a quarter leather and cloth clamshell case with titles stamped in gilt on the spine.
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
- BUCKINGHAM BOOKS
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 51235
- Title
- THE GLASS KEY
- Author
- HAMMETT, DASHIELL
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf, 1931.
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1931
Terms of Sale
BUCKINGHAM BOOKS
We accept checks and all major credit cards. Prices are NET to all. PA residents must add 6% sales tax. It is our preference to ship via either UPS or Priority Mail. All oversized books and all shipments outside the U.S. will be charged actual shipping, insurance, and handling costs. All parcels shall be shipped insured. All items may be returned within 7 days of receipt with prior notification. We request any items for return be sent by their original shipping route, be well packaged and fully insured.
About the Seller
BUCKINGHAM BOOKS
Biblio member since 2006
Greencastle, Pennsylvania
About BUCKINGHAM BOOKS
Buckingham Books specializes in new, used and rare books dealing with Mystery and Western Americana. Books in the mystery field include not only Mystery, but also Detective, Espionage, and Adventure Fiction. Our Western Americana Section offers books about the development of the American West. All books in our inventory are First Editions unless clearly stated otherwise.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
- 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...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- 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....
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
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