The Big Sleep by CHANDLER, Raymond (1888-1959)

London: Hamish Hamilton, 1939. FIRST UK EDITION. Octavo, pp.302. Publisher's black cloth with red titles and trim. Edges a little toned, joints a touch rubbed. A clean, near fine example. The author's first book, introducing Philip Marlowe; cool, sharp, handsome - and bitterly alone. A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone. Chandler's writing was certainly an influence on Ian Fleming, and the two authors later became friends and correspondents. In a nod to his hero Fleming mentions Raymond Chandler in the novel 'Goldfinger', and inscribed a copy to him (sold in 2011). Bruccoli [A1.2a] Cooper & Pike; Detective Fiction p75-78. Howard Haycraft/Ellery Queen. Listed in The Observer's All-Time 100 Best Novels [2003] also Time Magazine; 100 Best Modern Novels.