
March 11, 1939 issue – cover art by Emmett Watson



July 1952 Signet reissue, 3rd printing
cover art by Maurice Thomas – better image than previously posted

cover art by Robert Schulz
better image than previously posted

March 11, 1939 issue – cover art by Emmett Watson



July 1952 Signet reissue, 3rd printing
cover art by Maurice Thomas – better image than previously posted

cover art by Robert Schulz
better image than previously posted

It was first published in 1939 by Hodder and Stoughton in the United Kingdom and by the Crime Club in the United States.



better image than previously posted


1952 Rinehart hardcover, this the later 1953 Dell paperback
cover art by Robert Hilbert
his first published novel
first with series detective Manville “Manny” Moon who operated with one artificial leg

cover art by Denis McLoughlin

1945 Rinehart hardcover

1948 Signet reissue – cover art by Robert Jonas

1959 Signet reissue with slight title change
cover art by Jerry Allison

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]

1953 Hammish Hamilton UK hardcover, the true first edition of this novel

1954 Houghton Mifflin hardcover, first US edition – (owner’s copy)
cover illustration by Lorraine
final Marlowe novel, an American classic and winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel

1954 Hammish Hamilton book club edition

August 1955 Pocket reissue, 2nd printing – (owner’s copy)
cover art by Tom Dunn


1964 Pocket reissue – cover art by Harry Bennett


1971 Ballantine reissue – cover art by Richard Waldrep

1971 Penguin UK reissue – cover design by James Tormey

1972 Ballantine reissue – cover art by Tom Adams (owner’s copy)

1973 Ballantine movie tie-in reissue (owner’s copy)

1979 Pan/Macmillan reissue – cover photo by Richard Williams



1988 UK Vintage/Black Lizard reissue

1988 Vintage/Black Lizard reissue

1988 Vintage/Black Lizard reissue




1949 Hamish Hamilton UK hardcover, the true first by three months – cover art by C.W. Bacon

1949 Houghton Mifflin hc, 1st edition – cover art by Boris Artzybasheff (owner’s copy)

1949 Pocket reissue – cover art by James Neil Boyle

1950 Pocket reissue – cover art by William Shoyer (owner’s copy)


1957 Pocket reissue – cover art by Charles Binger



1971 Ballantine reissue – cover art by Tom Adams (owner’s copy)

1976 Ballantine reissue, 3rd print – cover art by Richard Waldrep (owner’s copy)


1979 Pan/Macmillan reissue – cover photo by Colin Thomas

1988 Vintage/ Black Lizard reissue




1946 Pocket reissue – cover art by Tom Dunn


1959 Cardinal reissue – cover art by Morgan Kane

1971 Ballantine reissue – cover art by Tom Adams (owner’s copy)

1976 Vintage reissue – cover art by Richard Waldrep (owner’s copy)

1979 Penguin UK reissue – cover by James Tormey

1979 Pan/Macmillan reissue – cover photo by Peter Williams

1988 Vintage/Black Lizard reissue



2010 Penguin Classics UK reissue

