Hammett (Dashiell) The Thin Man
£200
New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1934.
First edition, first printing. 8vo. Original cloth.
First edition of Hammett’s controversial fifth, and final, novel, a departure from his more standard ‘hardboiled’ style and introducing the charismatic amateur detective duo, Nick and Nora Charles. The book was banned in Boston and bowdlerised in Britain over the use of the word “erection”, and while the word was excised from the London edition (‘erections did not, at that time, exist in the English novel’ according to Julian Symons), Alfred Knopf put an ad in The New York Times fanning the flames of the scandal.
Out of stock
Cloth slightly toned at spine, but overall a satisfying copy.
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