hardcover – Page 11

October 1949 issue ~ cover art by Fred Rodewald

October 1949

cover art by Fred Rodewald

September 27, 2013

1936 Doubleday hardcover

First American Edition of THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1936), preceding the British edition by one month).

A masterpiece of genre fiction, basis for the 1942 film noir starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and Laird Cregar. The film was Ladd’s first appearance on the big screen, and the only time he ever played a villain. He became famous as a result of the film’s success, and would go on to be cast along-side Veronica Lake in ‘The Glass Key’ and ‘The Blue Dahlia.’ Copies in dustjacket are quite scarce, this being the only jacketed copy of the American edition we’ve seen offered in the trade since 2009.

September 27, 2013

October 1945 issue

October 1945

Nightmare Alley x 4

Nightmare Alley. William Lindsay Gresham. New York: Rinehart and Company, Inc. 1946. First edition. Original dust jacket; art by A. F. Arnold.

Scarce macabre carnival themed thriller. “Loneliness came over him, like an avalanche of snow. He was alone. Where he had always wanted to be. You can only trust yourself. There’s a rat buried deep in everybody and they’ll rat on you if they get pushed far enough.”