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The Simple Art of Murder

Lot 15
28.09.2023 13:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 25 200
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
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The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1016484
Lot 15 | The Simple Art of Murder
Estimate value
£ 6 000 – 10 000
The Simple Art of Murder

Raymond Chandler

CHANDLER, Raymond (1888-1959). The Simple Art of Murder. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1950.



First edition, first issue, inscribed to his literary agent, Ray Stark: ‘To Ray Stark with my best wishes for a life of crime from Raymond Chandler La Jolla Oct 5 1950’. Stark was responsible for arranging for Chandler to work with Alfred Hitchcock on the screenplay for Strangers on a Train, a project Chandler was initially flattered by and eager to work on. Difficulties between director and writer quickly arose and, though Chandler allowed his name to be associated with the film, he had little to do with it; he fired Stark as his agent as a consequence. The Simple Art of Murder reprints Chandler’s short stories that had appeared in pulp fiction magazines and elsewhere, together with the first appearance in book form of ‘Pick-Up on Noon Street’. Bruccoli A.9.1.1; a Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone.



Octavo. Original yellowish grey cloth stamped in yellow and titled in orange-yellow, top edge yellow-brown (some light spotting, spine slightly darkened, light wear at extremities); original pictorial dust-jacket by Boris Artzybasheff supplied from another copy (off-setting of blue band from its Plasti-kleer wrapper, a few neat tears); modern linen box with leather spine label. Provenance: Ray Stark (1915-2004; presentation inscription).

Auction house category:Printed books
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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Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

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