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THE GLASS KEY
by Hammett, Dashiell
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- A very good copy, remnant of label removal at top of front paste-down, some dustiness and spotting to edges, some mild edge rubb
- Seller
-
Laurel, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London and New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1931. First edition. A very good copy, remnant of label removal at top of front paste-down, some dustiness and spotting to edges, some mild edge rubbing, blue of cloth faded on spine. Scarce. (10167). Octavo, cloth. Correct first edition, first issue, of this novel, published January, 1931; the American edition was not published until April of 1931. A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone volume. Filmed several times.
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
- John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller, ABAA/ILAB
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 10167
- Title
- THE GLASS KEY
- Author
- Hammett, Dashiell
- Book Condition
- Used - A very good copy, remnant of label removal at top of front paste-down, some dustiness and spotting to edges, some mild edge rubb
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Alfred A. Knopf
- Place of Publication
- London and New York
- Date Published
- 1931
- Keywords
- Mystery . Film Source . Notable listing/book
Terms of Sale
John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller, ABAA/ILAB
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives mis-described or damaged.
About the Seller
John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller, ABAA/ILAB
Biblio member since 2017
Laurel, Maryland
About John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller, ABAA/ILAB
John W. Knott, Jr., BooksellerABAA/ILABFine First Editions
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- 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....
- 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...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- 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...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
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