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The Maltese Falcon.
by HAMMETT, Dashiell
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
London, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Alfred A. Knopf,, 1930. A detective fiction classic First edition, first printing, of one of the greatest detective thrillers of the 20th century. The equally classic film noir adaptation of 1941 was written and directed by John Huston and starred Humphrey Bogart. Octavo. Original grey cloth, spine lettered and decoratively framed in grey, black, and blue, front cover with black rule enclosing blue falcon vignette, rear cover stamped in black with publisher's device, top edge grey, other edges untrimmed. Falcon vignette on title page printed in dark blue. Light toning to spine and mottling to cloth, remnants from removed label on rear pastedown, spots to edges of book block, contents clean. A very good copy. Layman A3.1.a.
Synopsis
The Maltese Falcon , author Dashiell Hammett’s third novel, set the standard by which all subsequent detective fiction would be judged. Set in San Francisco in the late 1920s, the novel introduces us to private detective Sam Spade, who characterizes the archetype of the hard-boiled detective in his dead-pan pursuit of the recovery of a black figurine. Having worked for a time for the Pinkerton Detective Agency in San Francisco, Hammett reportedly drew upon his years as a detective in creating Spade and many of the other characters for The Maltese Falcon . The Maltese Falcon was originally serialized in HL Mencken’s “pulp” magazine, Black Mask, beginning with the September 1929 issue. For publication of the book form, editor Blanche Knopf tried to tone down the overt sexuality of the magazine version, fearing the references would alienate readers, but Hammett prevailed. However, the 1941 film adaptation starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor (the best known of the novel’s three film versions) excised the homosexual subtext of the novel due to Production Code restraints. Today, the movie is considered a film noir classic and the novel is ranked 56th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century as well as 54th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels. -
Read More: Identifying first editions of The Maltese Falcon.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Peter Harrington
(GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 170568
- Title
- The Maltese Falcon.
- Author
- HAMMETT, Dashiell
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Place of Publication
- New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
- Date Published
- 1930
Terms of Sale
Peter Harrington
All major credit cards are accepted. Both UK pounds and US dollars (exchange rate to be agreed) accepted. Books may be returned within 14 days of receipt for any reason, please notify first of returned goods.
About the Seller
Peter Harrington
Biblio member since 2006
London
About Peter Harrington
Since its establishment, Peter Harrington has specialised in sourcing, selling and buying the finest quality original first editions, signed, rare and antiquarian books, fine bindings and library sets. Peter Harrington first began selling rare books from the Chelsea Antiques Market on London's King's Road. For the past twenty years the business has been run by Pom Harrington, Peter's son.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- 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...
- 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....
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Device
- Especially for older books, a printer's device refers to an identifying mark, also sometimes called a printer's mark, on the...
- 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...
- Octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
- Vignette
- A decorative design or illustration placed at the beginning or end of a ...
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