THE OUTER EDGES (Signed By Cover Artist James Avati) by Jackson, Charles - 1950

New York: Signet 781, 1950 Jackson, Charles. THE OUTER EDGES. NY: Signet, 1950 (April, #781). First Paperback Edition, first printing. INSCRIBED BY COVER ARTIST JAMES AVATI on the title page in black ink. A NEAR FINE copy, fresh and likely unread, with only the tiniest bit of edgewear, of this minor masterpiece by the author of THE LOST WEEKEND. James Avati (1912-2005) was often called "The Rembrandt" of 1940s and 1950s paperback illustration. This particular cover is a masterpiece of Noir menace, as the fiendish moron killer eyeballs his prey with a kind of creepy realism which other noir paperback art simply could not equal. Avati's brilliance in capturing human feeling: tension or fear, suggestiveness or lust, avarice or suspicion, compassion or devotion was unrivaled during the golden age of paperback illustration. He created a visual narrative that brought characters' tragedies and yearnings to life with a tough-minded gritty realism that put Norman Rockwell to shame. We were fortunate to acquire a small cache of his famous Signet first printing covers which were signed by him at his home in Petaluma, California a half-dozen years before he passed away. To the best of our knowledge, he never signed any other books for which he provided illustrations other than the ones which were acquired on this one occasion. Please search the keywords James Avati to see if any of his signed copies still remain in our stock.