The Glass Key - photo 1
The Glass Key - photo 2
The Glass Key - photo 3

The Glass Key

Starting price
£ 2 000
Auction dateClassic
28.09.2023 13:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1016419
Lot 80 | The Glass Key
The Glass Key

Dashiell Hammett

HAMMETT, Dashiell (1894-1961). The Glass Key. New York: Knopf, 1931.



First American edition of the novel Hammett considered to be his favourite. The London printing of The Glass Key appeared on 20 January 1931, preceding this edition by just over three months. Paramount purchased the film rights prior to its release for a reported $25,000, and the film studio ultimately produced two studio length features adapted from the novel: the first in 1935 starring George Raft, Edward Arnold, and Claire Dodd; the second in 1942, capitalising on the success of Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon, and starring Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake, and Alan Ladd. Layman A4.2.a.



Octavo. Title with illustration of a key printed in green, text untrimmed. Original light green cloth, dark green key stamped on upper cover within a red single-rule frame, spine decorated in dark red and green (some wear to lower edges, head and tail of spine lightly bruised); original pictorial dust-jacket (spine ends frayed with small loss, occasional short closed tears along edges, 60mm tear to upper flap fold, some light rubbing and creasing); housed in modern green quarter morocco clamshell box, spine lettered in gilt.

Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
28.09.2023 – 28.09.2023
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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