THIS GUN FOR HIRE
Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1936. First Edition. Greene's seventh novel, published in the UK under the title A Gun for Sale. "A hired gunman (English underprivileged youth) murders a socialist minister on the Continent and almost plunges Europe into war. Insp. Mather trails him, but M.'s own fiancée gets drawn into the chase and almost succeeds in humanizing the murderer" (Barzun & Taylor 1574). Basis for Frank Tuttle's 1942 film noir, starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and Laird Cregar. Wobbe A12.b; Hubin, p.175; The Dark Page, Vol.1, pp.116-117. Item #5313
First Printing, preceding the British edition by one month. Octavo (19.75cm); beige cloth, blocked and titled in dark green on spine; green topstain; dustjacket; [viii],293,[3]pp. Gently spine-sunned, topstain dulled, with light dust-soil and a few faint stains to cloth, and a tiny numerical label near upper margin of title page; contents clean; Very Good or better. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $2.00), gently spine-sunned, with modest shelfwear, several tears with attendant creases, a few small stains, with one clear tape-mend on verso, and five pieces of cello-tape with associated bleed-through (two on flaps, three along upper rear panel); Very Good.
Price: $2,000.00