PAINTED PONIES by LE MAY, Alan

Toronto: Doubleday, Doran, (copyright 1927).. Hardcover. Presumed first Canadian issue, no earlier than 1937, from plates of the US (Doran) edition. FIRST BOOK, a western novel, the first of many such from the author of at least one western classic, THE UNFORGIVEN. Green pictorial cloth stamped in black, cream endpapers, green top page edges. (vi), (7)-304 pp. Bit of sunning, rubbing to the top page edges; inner margins of endpapers browned from binding glue; very small white spot to spine; else fine, no previous owner marks. The colourful dust jacket has some minor rubbing and short edge tears to panels; white spine lightly tanned, with a vertical damp stain to left side, short tear to spine fold and a very shallow chip across head; else VG, still quite attractive. The rear panel of the dust jacket advertises 6 books by other authors, the last being Mignon G. Eberhart's DANGER IN THE DARK, which was first published in 1937. The jacket flaps are blank. First Canadian issues of Doubleday, Doran books usually state "First Edition" and were usually issued the same year as the US first edition. However, the Canadian branch of Doubleday, Doran went through a period in the 1930's where they issued some previously published US titles somewhat later than the date on the copyright page, and without their usual "First Edition" designation. I don't believe there was a previous Canadian issue of this title; Octavo .