THE BIG SLEEP

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945. First Black Widow Thriller Edition. Chandler's first and best-known novel, and the debut of Philip Marlowe - perhaps the most imitated character within the mystery genre. "On one level, this is a complex murder mystery with its fair share of clues and corpses. On another level, it is a serious novel concerned (as is much of Chandler's work) with the corrupting influences of money and power. Marlowe is hired by General Sternwood, an old, paralyzed ex-soldier who made a fortune in oil, to find out why a rare-book dealer named Arthur Gwynn Geiger is holding an IOU signed by Sternwood's youngest daughter, the wild and immoral Carmen, and where a blackmailing gambler named Joe Brody fits into the picture" (Pronzini & Muller, p. 122). The Black Widow Thriller's were a short-run series produced by Chandler's American publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a vehicle for printing uniform editions of the works by Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Eric Ambler; a second printing was allegedly produced in 1946, though Bruccoli notes he hadn't seen one at the time his bibliography was published. An uncommonly well-preserved copy. Bruccoli A1.1.d; Hubin, p.74. First Printing. Octavo (19cm); turquoise cloth, with titling and decorative elements stamped in gilt and in blind to spine and front cover; dustjacket; [viii],277,[3]pp. A handful of faint, tiny spots to right edge of textblock, else Fine in a very Near Fine dustjacket, price-clipped, with some pinpoint wear and a few tiny tears to extremities.