LOST STORIES with Atkin's DEVIL'S GARDEN.

San Francisco:: Vince Emery Productions,, (2005). SIGNED hardcover first edition -. Fine in fine dust jacket in a fine slipcase (a new copy) Two promotional cards laid in. . Limited, signed edition. A book which "rescues 21 long-lost Hammett stories, all either never collected in an anthology or unavailable for decades. These stories appear nowhere else, and represent a variety of styles from the famous mysterysmith: his first detective fiction, humorous satires, adventure yarns, a sensitive autobiographical piece, and a Thin Man story told with photos. In addition, all stories have been restored to their original versions, replacing often wholesale cuttings with the original text for the first time." Joe Gores has written an introduction describing how Hammett influenced literature, movies, television, and Gores own life and Vince Emery provides the background to these stories and commentary on Hammett's writing life. Number 20 of 195 copies SIGNED by both Gores and Emery on the first page. Illustrated, all edges gilt. ix, 342 pp. Just for fun this has been paired with a signed first edition of "Devil's Garden" by Ace Atkins, an historical novel set in 1920s San Francisco featuring a young Hammett, who is working as a Pinkerton agent, fighting to deal with his tuberculosis, and just on the verge of his career as a writer.