41st Perry Mason novel
cover photo of Ellen Burstyn by Silver Studios
1961 Great Pan edition from the UK – cover art by Sam Peffer
November 1962 Pocket reissue, 5th printing
cover art Robert McGinnis
better image than previously posted
1936 Double Day hardcover
A Crime Club selection
3rd with drunken private eye Bill Crane from 1936
1956 Jonathan Press digest, #84
cover art by ED Emshwiller
better image than previously posted
1964 McFadden paperback reissue
better image than previously posted
1990 International Polygonics – cover by Jennifer Place
WOOLRICH, Cornell (1903-68). The Bride wore Black. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1940.
8o. Original cloth (slight lean); pictorial dust jacket by Charles Coleman (price-clipped, tiny chip to back panel, slight rubbing to joints and folds). Provenance: Nina Kelly Bruce (bookplate, signatures on front and back endpapers).
FIRST EDITION of Woolrich’s first mystery and a landmark of noir. “There are no suspects, no clues, yet the reader is tensely aware of mystery. There is only the woman, her victims, and the relentless drama of her life–a pale shadow that comes gradually into focus and is seen at last in brilliant outline” (dust jacket). The basis for François Truffaut’s film starring Jeanne Moreau. A Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone.
1941 Philadelphia Enquirer Newspaper Supplement
better image than previously posted
Summer 1941 issue – cover art by Wilson Scruggs
better image than previously posted
cover art by H. Lawrence Hoffman
better image than previously posted
1952 Winter issue – cover art by George Gross
1953 Pyramid reissue with new title
1958 Dutch edition from Kroonder,Bussum
better image than previously posted
cover art by Laurence Schwinger
included Cornell Woolrich’s “Street of Jungle Death”, the basis for his classic novel Black Alibi
1942 Simon & Schuster hardcover, an Inner Sanctum mystery
his 3rd novel as by Woolrich
better image than previously posted
1946 American Mercury/Jonathan Press digest – cover art by George Salter
(previous owner’s intrusive signature on cover)
1956 Mercury digest – cover art by George Salter
1965 Collier Mystery reissue – cover accredited to Dick Cuffari
1982 Ballantine reissue – cover art by Laurence Schwinger
RUNYON, Damon (1880-1946). Guys and Dolls. Introduction by Heywoud Broun. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1931.
8o. Original pictorial wrappers of the dust jacket by Arthur Hawkins (some light soiling to back cover, corner of front flap clipped); cloth folding case.
ADVANCED COPY OF THE FIRST EDITION, with ink stamp “Pub’n Date Aug 20 1931” on front blank. “The great modern interpreter of The Main Stem [Broadway]… leavened his tales of passion and violence with a unique type of humor which can only be described as New York Runyonese” (Queen’s Quorum). Runyon was the archetypal tough, cynical reporter who mingled with the underworld. Queen’s Quorum 84.
Babcock, Dwight V. THE GORGEOUS GHOUL. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1941. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The second of Babcock’s three mystery novels, all of which featured crime journalist Hannah Van Doren. Babcock was a prolific contributor to the pulps, especially BLACK MASK, and later a Hollywood script writer. A fine copy in very good dust jacket with light wear to corners and spine ends and some age-darkening to spine panel and along flap folds.
Daly, Carroll John. BETTER CORPSES: A RACE WILLIAMS STORY. London: Robert Hale Limited, [1940]. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-286 [287-288: blank], publisher’s black cloth stamped in red and silver. First edition. “When better corpses are made, Race Williams will make them” (p. 186). The last Race Williams book, a fix-up novel incorporating the three-part Morse story arc that first appeared in DIME DETECTIVE in 1935 and 1936 featuring Daly’s violent tough-guy detective, Race Williams, who “never bumped off a guy what didn’t need it” and the Flame (The Girl with the Criminal Mind), “a woman of good — a woman of evil. Take your choice.” Carroll John Daly (1889-1958), one of the fathers of the modern hard-boiled private eye and an important BLACK MASK writer, “is not known for literary niceties — his style can best be described as crude but effective … Characterization is minimal and action is everything” (Crider and Pronzini). Race Williams was Daly’s most successful creation, appearing in about 70 stories and eight novels. Lee Server (Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers, 2014) has called Race Williams “the single most popular private eye in the history of the pulps.” Cloth worn and scuffed, slight spine lean, half title leaf and final blank tanned, a sound, good copy in a pictorial 8/3 dust jacket with touch of wear at edges, mainly lower spine end, and mild tanning to spine panel and along rear flap fold. Stunning jacket. From the library of a well-known mystery writer with his library stamp on the front paste-down. Rare. There is no equivalent U.S. edition.
Burnett, W[illiam] R[iley]. LITTLE CAESAR. London: Jonathan Cape, [1929]. Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-283 [284: blank] 285-288: glossary, publisher’s red cloth, spine panel stamped in gold, rear panel stamped in blind with publisher’s symbol. First British edition. Classic crime novel that chronicles the rise and fall of a Chicago gangster. Made into a memorable feature film (1930) starring Edward G. Robinson. Pronzini and Muller, 1001 Midnights, The Aficionado’s Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction, pp. 101-102. A review copy sent to the DAILY HERALD, with publisher’s review slip laid in and a clipping of the review affixed to the front paste-down. The reviewer’s copy, with “A.L.B.,” in ink at the upper fore-edge corner of the front free end paper dated 29.6.29. Inked name on the front free end paper. Spine age-darkened, a very good copy in good dust jacket illustrated by Lee Elliott with overall toning to the white background, light abrasions to lower front panel and spine panel, vertical crease to the rear panel, abrasion with loss along rear flap fold. A presentable copy of the scarce UK edition. From the library of a well-known mystery writer with his library stamp on the front paste-down.
Brackett, Leigh. AN EYE FOR AN EYE. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1957. Octavo, boards. First edition. This book became the basis for the television series “Markham“. Some tanning to page edges, a near fine copy in near fine dust jacket with some light rubbing.
1961 Belmont paperback original
novelization from the TV series starring Ray Milland
novelization by Lawrence Block was released after the TV show had been cancelled
SMB Noir 
