July 2014 Auction Ends Thursday, July 31st, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 7/31/2014
Scarce first printing, first edition of Raymond Chandler's most famous book, ''The Big Sleep.'' New York: Alfred A. Knopf: 1939. This novel introduced Philip Marlowe, the detective whose famous first lines in the novel illuminated a character that would forever change the canon of noir and establish the primacy of the hard-boiled detective novel as a genre during the 30's and 40's: ''I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be.'' 277pp. book is in publisher's original orange cloth, with very minor edge wear and very slight fading to the spine. Some discoloration along the hinges of the endpapers from binder's glue. Original full-color unclipped $2.00 dustjacket has a few tiny chips and areas of loss to the edges, including one very short closed tear to top edge of jacket. An incredibly scarce copy of Chandler's seminal work, rarely encountered in a well-kept and unrestored dust jacket. Recently sold for $6,250 as lot 36240 in Heriage's 5 October 2012 sale.
Very Rare First Edition, First Printing of Raymond Chandler's Masterpiece ''The Big Sleep'' -- The Book That Brought His Detective Philip Marlowe to Fame -- With Original Scarce Dustjacket
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