MLC Books

New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1944. Two novelettes: Not Quite Dead Enough and Booby Trap, 220 pages. Lightly bumped, spine a bit sunned. Jacket rubbed and foxed with small chips and tears. Price intact, in Brodart. Inscribed on the front end paper by Stout and his wife, the noted textile designer Pola Stout: "Nov. 3-1944. To Gil and Ada - with love - and love - Rex, Pola.". Inscribed By the Author. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good.

New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1934. In his first appearance, Nero Wolfe wagers the DA that if he exhumes the body of the College President it will be found he died of poison, not heart failure. First edition with the publisher's logo on the copyright page. Bumped with wear at the corners and spine ends, a few small spots on the black boards. Drip mark to the upper edge of the rear end paper, binding square and solid. With a fine, facsimile dust jacket in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Fine.

Tokyo, Japan: Murder By the Press, 1997. A unique copy of the scarce first edition of Smith's second mystery, following Whistle Up the Devil in 1953. Algy Lawrence investigates when an actress is killed on stage after the prop gun is loaded with live rounds. Number 3045 of Adey's Locked Room Murders Supplement by Brian Skupin. Lightly bumped with a short crease to the lower corner of the rear cover. Jacket shows light edge wear with a corresponding crease. Signed by Smith on the verso of the copyright page. Inscribed opposite the contents page "For Marvin Lachman with many thanks for his kind comments re "Whistle Up the Devil" and in the hope this follow-up adventure helps to solve "the biggest mystery of all: What happened to ?" Derek Smith." Laid in is a note from George Malcolm Thomson of the Evening Standard to Smith, dated 6th July, 1950.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Near Fine/Very Good.

New York: George H. Doran, 1925. First printing, black boards with gilt imprint and the publisher's device on the copyright page. Novel which was the basis for the play, the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess, and the 1959 movie starring Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge. Bumped and rubbed, spine a bit sunned. Front hinge solid, rear cracked. Previous owner's gift inscription on the front end paper.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/No Jacket. Illus. by Nadejen, Theodore.

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1956. Allen offers commentary on TV humor in general and on 16 of the top comedians of the day, 279 pages. Gently bumped, spine head slightly sunned. Previous owner's gift inscription on the front end paper, as well as Allen's signature. Jacket lightly rubbed with small chips and tears, in Brodart.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good.

New York: Viking Press, 1958. First printing. Spine ends gently bumped with a few spots of light foxing to the edges of the text block. Small 'x' written on the upper corner of the front end paper. Jacket rubbed with small chips and tears, price (3.95) intact, in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Good.

New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1942. Honey married her husband for stability, not love, and tries to make the best of it. On a cruise, she believes the man next door is planning to murder his wife, and her husband is behaving oddly. Why won't anyone listen to her? Lightly bumped and rubbed with a short tear to the lower front gutter. Spine slightly cocked, hinges a bit loose, with a bookstore stamp and the previous owner's name, dated April 1, 1943, on the front end paper. Jacket shows light wear at the edges, in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good.

New York: Stein & Day, 1967. Dick Ramey sets out to borrow some money from his ex-wife and sparks a chain of events that leaves him the only possible suspect in a murder he did not commit. Basis for the 1972 Alfred Hitchcock movie "Frenzy" starring Jon Finch and Barry Foster. First U.S. printing. Light rubbing to the spine ends with a tiny spot on the front end paper. Paul Omin jacket lightly rubbed with two short tears to the lower rear panel. Price clipped, tiny damp stain to the spine head only visible internally, in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Very Good.

London: Constable, 1951. First printing of the first book in the Gorse trilogy. Ernest Ralph Gorse, unscrupulous con man, woos a working class girl with the aim of getting the money she has socked away. Spine heel gently bumped with a touch of rubbing to the corners and spine ends. Jacket rubbed with small chips and tears, including a 1" chip to the lower front and upper rear panels. Price clipped, in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Good.

New York: Crown Publishers, 1955. Duke Romero, small time crook, decided that being a private detective was a better racket, until he tried to get for himself the fortune that Noodles the Hood had hidden away. Lightly bumped with damp stain primarily visible at the upper edge of the rear board, binding square and solid. Jacket rubbed with chips and tears, damp stain to the flap folds and rear panel. Tape reinforcement shadows visible internally, price clipped, in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Good.

Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co./Crime Club, 1935. A sponsor is murdered in a radio studio during a broadcast. An ingenious detective story and satire of old-time radio. Basis for the 1938 movie "Danger on the Air" starring Nan Grey and Donald Woods. Bumped and rubbed with a touch of wear at the edges, spine a bit sunned. Small, faint drip marks to the boards and upper edge of the text block. Bright jacket with a crease up the center of the spine, three short closed tears to the lower edge, in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good.

New York: Doubleday, Page and Company, 1910. First U.S. edition, British title "Arsene Lupin versus Holmlock Shears." Translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. Brown boards with cream colored imprint and pictorial paper overlay. Bumped and rubbed with wear at the spine ends, cream color rubbed from the spine and parts of the front board. Hinges a bit loose. Stamped on the front end paper "Editorial library copy. Do not remove from office. Must be returned to library." Directly above is the signature, in pencil, "F.N. Doubleday.". Signed By the Publisher. First Edition.. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket. Illus. by Boehm, H. Richard (Frontispiece).

Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co./Crime Club, 1930. Ambrose Chitterwick witnesses the death of a lady just after her nephew had dropped something in her coffee. Chitterwick's role as the star witness is complicated by the fact that he thinks the nephew is innocent. First U.S. edition. Gently bumped with the slightest bit of wear at the corners and spine ends. Red upper edges of the text block a bit faded. Binding square and solid.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket.

Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co./Crime Club, 1932. Roger Sheringham investigates when the body of a woman is found buried under a basement floor, nude but for a pair of gloves. First edition stated. Bumped with light wear at the corners and spine ends, spine very slightly sunned. Previous owner's name and address stamped on the front pastedown, binding square and solid. Jacket lightly rubbed with small chips and tears, price intact, in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good.

London: Constable, 1934. Inspector Poole is called in from Scotland Yard when a Chief Constable is murdered in his office and most of the suspects are policemen. First edition with the date on the title page and no additional printings, map frontispiece. Orange boards bumped and rubbed with drip marks, spine sunned, a bit of wear at the corners and spine ends, including a 1" tear up the lower rear spine fold. End papers tanned with a 1/2" chip to the upper corner of the front end paper. Binding square and solid.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/No Jacket.

New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1933. The apparent suicide was not,and Inspector Lott is on the case. Scarce first U.S. edition. Lightly bumped and rubbed with a bit of wear at the spine ends and foxing to the rear board. Spine cocked, hinges just a bit loose. Publication date written in pencil on the front pastedown and at the top of the first page. Short insect hole to the fore edge of the last dozen pages.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/No Jacket.

New York: Privately Printed, 1942. Merrill's first book, published by his father for him when he was 16 years old. Lightly rubbed with a touch of wear at the corners, spine sunned, toning to the edges of the boards. Paper clip crimp to the upper edge of one page.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket.

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1942. The scarce first impossible crime mystery featuring Rogan Kincaid, in which a man is murdered by a curse. Adey 1796. Lightly bumped and rubbed with faint damp stains to the spine and lower edges of the black boards, not affecting the text block. Binding square and solid, previous owner's gift inscription and stamp on the front end paper. Jacket rubbed with small chips and tears, corresponding light damp stains primarily visible internally, in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/Good.

New York: McBride, Nast & Co., 1913. First U.S. edition (September, 1913) of the first Fu Manchu novel, published in England as The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu. Basis for the 1929 movie The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu starring Warner Oland. Lightly bumped and rubbed, spine a bit darkened with a couple of small drip marks and a 3/8" tear to the head. Short pen swipe to the upper edge of the text block, previous owner's name on the front end paper. Binding square and solid.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket.

New York: Henry Holt, 1917. Richardson's loosely autobiographical novel of a physician's long decline into mental illness and the effect on his family, a classic of Australian literature. First U.S. edition, without the sub-title "Australia Felix" found in the British edition. Blue boards bumped and rubbed with light wear at the edges, spine darkened with gilt print still bright. Several short white scuffs to the lower fore edge of the front board. Light foxing to the edges of the text block, rear hinge cracked but still solid. Bookstore sticker and bookplate on the front pastedown. Stamped on the "Part I" page is " Home Library, Dr. Wm. J. Mayo." Mayo was one of the brothers who founded the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/No Jacket.

New York: Avon, 1975. A scarce signed copy of Pharr's fourth book. First printing, September 1975. Gently bumped with light rubbing at the edges. Pages, spine and rear panel a bit tanned. Inscribed to Jennie and signed by Pharr on the half title page.. Inscribed By the Author. First Edition. Paperback. Very Good/No Jacket.

New York: Doubleday & Co., 1991. The third Rune mystery, and Deaver's first book to be published in hard cover. Rune sees a taped interview in which a convicted killer protests his innocence and she sets out to prove it. First printing. Upper front corner gently bumped with light foxing to the edges of the text block. Jacket shows just a touch of rubbing to the lower rear flap fold with a tiny tear to the lower front panel, in Brodart. Signed by Deaver on the title page, dated 2/9/92.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Near Fine.

New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. Produced on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name, which appeared at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis from February 11, 2012 to January 27, 2013. 446 Pages. Fine, as new condition.. First Edition. Soft Cover. Fine/No Jacket.

New York: Ray Long & Richard R. Smith, 1933. A drifter during the Depression, moving from job to job, is unjustly accused of killing a girl. Mainwaring's first novel, and the only one published under his own name, later writing as Geoffrey Homes. Blue boards with bright yellow print lightly bumped with a touch of wear at the corners and spine ends. Binding square and solid, pages faintly tanned. Jacket rubbed and a bit darkened with small chips and tears. 1/2" loss to the spine ends with a 2" tear up the rear spine fold, sticker scuff on the lower spine. Small drip mark to the spine only visible internally, price intact, in Brodart.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Good.