COMPLETE SET OF AVON MURDER MYSTERY MONTHLIES: FIVE MURDERERS, FIVE SINISTER CHARACTERS [INSCRIBED], THE FINGER MAN AND OTHER STORIES

New York: Avon Book Company, 1946. First Editions. First book appearances, collectively, of 13 hard-boiled stories and Chandler's essay, "The Simple Art of Murder," which first appeared in the pages of Dime Detective, Black Mask, and The Atlantic Monthly, et al. All of the contributions with exception to "The Bronze Door" would be included in his 1950 collection The Simple Art of Murder. Despite the humble format of these volumes, they contain some of Chandler's sharpest prose, and rank among the best of his short fiction. While we have seen presentation copies of all of Chandler's novels, this is the first time we've encountered an inscribed copy of one of these pulp digests. Bruccoli A5.1, A6.1, A7.1; Hubin, p.74. First Printings. Three digest-sized octavos (19.25cm); original pictorial card wrappers; pp.[ii],11-166,[2] ads; [ii],11-168; [iv],11-122,[4] ads. Five Sinister Characters is inscribed by Chandler on the title page, to the wife of Chicago bookseller Arthur Lovell, with whom the author corresponded throughout the 1950s: "To Mrs. Arthur Lovell / with my best wishes / Raymond Chandler / La Jolla, California." Five Murderers is Very Good+, with light wear and some faint creasing to wrappers, a 2cm closed tear to lower front joint, and a closed tear to upper margin of p.135/36; Five Sinister Characters is Near Fine, with light wear to wrapper extremities, and a few rubbed spots to spine ends; The Finger Man shows some trivial wear to extremities, and a small closed tears to margins of a few leaves in text; Near Fine.