Salinger, J. D.

The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little Brown, 1951.



8vo ( 7 7/8 x 5 1/4 ins; 196 x 133mm). Publisher's black cloth with gilt-lettered spine in illustrated dust-jacket (first issue with lower panel crediting Jacobi on Salinger's photo);  first ten pages creased at upper corner, minor spotting to fore-edge, pastedowns browned, white portion of unclipped jacket spine panel barely faded as usual and rubbed at head with two small chips at tail, tiny chips at front panel corners, rear fold a little rubbed, but generally a handsome copy.

Raymond Chandler (ownership stamp).

first ten pages creased at upper corner, minor spotting to fore-edge, pastedowns browned, white portion of unclipped jacket spine panel barely faded as usual and rubbed at head with two small chips at tail, tiny chips at front panel corners, rear fold a little rubbed, but generally a handsome copy.
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First edition of the author's first novel and a high spot of post-war American fiction.

Raymond Chandler's copy of a book he found "wonderful," with his blue ink ownership address stamp, "Raymond Chandler / 6005 Camino de la Costa / La Jolla California" followed by a date stamp of "Aug 4 1951" beneath in a different ink, presumably the date he bought the book.

Chandler hated pretension, especially in his fellow writers, and one can see why the character of Holden Caulfield, newly released from prep school, would appeal, as he railed against the "phonies". Chandler also had a British edition of Salinger's short stories, For Esme with Love and Squalor, in his library, obtained no doubt after reading this, which he thought "Wonderful" (Hiney, pg. 186).