Dashiell Hammett

First edition, first printing of Hammett's final novel.

• Dashiell Hammett (American).
• New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934.
• [8], 259, [1] pages.
• In original unclipped ($2.00) photographic dust jacket with green spine and green title.
• Bound in original green cloth stamped in blue and red, purple topstain.

Hammett first began The Thin Man in 1930, writing in his comfortable wheelhouse of a San Francisco hard-boiled detective navigating a dark plot, but soon set the book aside. When he returned to it, Hammett moved the setting to New York and made his hero a famous but retired sleuth who is pulled reluctantly into intrigue. The added comedy and style in this revision translated surprisingly well on screen, with the 1934 film adaptation garnering four Oscar nominations and, today, legendary status.

Layman, Dashiell Hammett: A Bibliography, A6.1.a.

Roger Ebert, Review of Film The Thin Man (1934), 22 December 2002.

Ward, The Lost Detective: Becoming Dashiell Hammett.