
better image than previously posted

September 9, 1933
cover art by C. Calvert (C.C. Beall)

1958 Hamish Hamilton, true 1st edition

1958 Houghton Mifflin hardcover


1959 Brazilian edition in Portuguese

1960 Cardinal reissue – cover art by William Rose
better image than previously posted




1961 Australian edition from Horwitz – cover art by Theo Batten

1965 British edition – cover design by Alan Spain

1968 Pyramid reissue – cover art by Joseph Lombardero



1975 Penguin edition – cover design by James Tormey

1977 Ballantine reissue, 1st print (owner’s copy) – cover art by Richard Waldrep

later 1977 Ballantine reissue – cover art by Richard Waldrep


1979 Pan/Macmillan reissue – cover photo by Peter Williams


late 8os UK Penguin reissue






1999 Scandinavian edition (unsure of country)


2004 French graphic novel edition

[updated 3/8/26]

1939 Knopf advanced reading copy


1939 Hammish Hamilton UK hardcover

1942 Avon digest, Murder Mystery Monthly No.7, first softcover release of this American classic/ cover art by William Frost

1943 Avon paperback – cover art by Paul Stahr

1945 Knopf hardcover reissue – inscribed to director John Houseman



1948 Pocket reissue – cover art by Darcy (Ernest Chiriacka)
better image than previously posted

1950 Pocket reissue, 3rd print – cover art by Harvey Kidder (owner’s copy)


1962 Penguin UK reissue – cover art by John Sewell
better image than previously posted


1971 Penguin UK reissue – cover designed by James Tormey

1973 Ballantine reissue – cover art by Tom Adams (owner’s copy)

1976 Ballantine reissue – cover art by Richard Amsel

watercolor cover art by Richard Waldrep, 13.75″ x 9.50″

1976 Vintage reissue (owner’s copy)

1976 Vintage trace paperback reissue

1979 Pan Macmillan reissue – cover photo by Peter Williams






2009 Hammish Hamilton hardcover



⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎⚙︎
note ~ there are many, many more covers for this book, both in English and foreign languages… but I had to stop somewhere

Gilda (Columbia, 1946). Fine+ on Linen. Six Sheet (78.5″ X 80.25″).

cover art by Jules Erbit?
better image than previously posted
~ John Baer, “A Wholesaler in Crime”, ‘compete mystery novelette’, his last of 24 stories in BM
~ Edwin Baird, “This Way Out”, short-short, 1st of 3 stories in BM
~ Peter Chance, “The Scarlet Scalpel”, only appearance in BM
~ Ray(mond King) Cummings, “T. McGuirk – Detective”, ‘5th of 14 McGuirk stories, billed as “the quaintest character in the Underworld” & honest, more of less’, 5th of 15 stories in BM
~ Arthur Fetter, “The Treachery of Spike McGuire”, ‘A Queer Glimpse of the Underworld’, author’s only appearance in BM
~ Henry W. Fisher, “Odd Bits”, ‘short-lived feature; not indexed past this point’
~ Geoffrey Foster, “Bedlam”, ‘short-short’, author’s only appearance in BM
~ Kenneth Fuessle, “Superstition”, ‘Adventure in Weird Surroundings’, author’s only appearance in BM
~ K. Godwin, “Conscience”, ‘Billed as BM’s “first one-act play”’, author’s sole appearance in BM
~ Robert Lee Heiser, “The World’s Greatest Mystery”, ‘true account of the murder of Clare Stone, a child, in Baltimore; would occupy readers for some time; not indexed beyond this point’
~ William Rollins, Jr., “A Song of India”, ‘billed as an ‘Oriental adventure in a small town’, 3rd of 23 stories in BM
~ Charles Somerville, “The Camp Dix Mystery”, 12th of 47 articles in the ‘Manhunter’ series, 13th of 49 total articles in BM
~ Merlin Moore Taylor, “One of Five”, part 1 of 2, 2nd of 8 appearances in BM
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop

cover art by Fred Craft
~ Tom Curry, “The Stoolie”, 6th of 23 stories with Macnamara (Mac), NYPD 1st grade dick, 10th of 39 stories in BM
~ Carroll John Daly, “Twenty Grand”, ‘Benny Slawson, “product of Delancey Street”’, 25th of 71 appearances in BM
~ Erle Stanley Gardner, “Whispering Sand”, 3rd of 7 with Black Barr, 21st of 99 stories in BM
~ Westmoreland Gray, “Slayer’s Finesse”, ‘Wallace McNeel, private ‘shoe, & police captain’, 1st of 3 stories in BM
~ (Charles John) Cutcliffe Hyne, “The Pilgrim Ship”, 3rd of 8 yarns with Captain Kettle
~ Nels Leroy Jorgensen, “The Reformation of Ace Brand”, “border story’, 4th of 39 stories in BM
~ Frederick L. Nebel, “Dumb Luck”, ‘Whitey Fleer, professional crook in NYC‘, reprinted in Street Wolf (Altus Press, 2014), 3 of 67 stories
~ Lt. Col. J.H. [John Henry] Patterson, D.S.O., “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo”, 4th of 7 serialized parts of this ex-British Army officer’s account of building a railway in Kenya, 1898-1899; book published in 1927
~ L.R. Sherman, “The Last Cartridge”, ‘The Frozen North’, 1st of 3 stories in BM
~ Raoul [Fauconnier] Whitfield, “Uneasy Money”, ‘aviation on the border; Buck, 1st person narrator’, 9th of 68 stories in BM [see also 24 stories as Ramon Decolta]
©Seattle Mystery Bookshop