Presentation Copy of the First Edition of Chandler's First Book
Big Sleep.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
Full Description:
CHANDLER, Raymond. The Big Sleep. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
First edition of author's first book. Octavo (7 3/8 x 5 1/16 inches; 188 x 128 mm). [viii], [1]-277, [1, colophon], [2, blank] pp. With a tipped in presentation by Chandler which reads "Raymond Chandler/Big Bear City/ Sept 1940/ From/H. Lucas." Presentation is tipped in on a full leaf after the front free endpaper. We could only find three other inscribed first edition copies on Rare Book Hub. Two which both sold in 2011, inscribed to his wife and to himself. And a third copy in advanced wrappers which sold in 2019.
Publisher's original orange cloth, front board and spine stamped in blue. Top edges dyed blue. Original full-color dust jacket. Front and back panel of jacket with some dampstaining, only visible on the inside of jacket. Jacket spine a bit darkened. Jacket with restoration along top and bottom edges of panels, along creases of front and back flaps and along spine. light rubbing to spine extremities and lower edge. Cloth with some very slight rubbing to board edges and a minor amount of wrinkling to cloth on front board. Still, overall shows about fine. Housed in a full blue morocco clamshell.
This novel introduced Philip Marlowe, and established the primacy of the hard-boiled detective novel as a genre during the 30’s and 40’s. A Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone.
This book contains a presentation page tipped in. The presentation reads "Raymond Chandler/Big Bear City/ Sept 1940/ From/H. Lucas." Clearly, H. Lucas asked Chandler to send a presentation inscription to a friend, hence the "From H. Lucas." The friend then tipped this page into the book. Chandler spent a lot of time around Big Bear Lake and even used the fictionalized version of it called Big Bear City in his second novel "Lady in the Lake."
Bruccoli, Chandler, A1.1a.
HBS 69127.
$25,000.
Price: $25,000.00
Item #69127