25 “I’m Grateful Now To Anybody Who Loved Her” 31GREENE, Graham. The End of the Affair. London, 1951. Octavo, original gray cloth, dust jacket. $6500 First edition of Greene’s celebrated novel—”singularly moving and beautiful” (Evelyn Waugh), inscribed by him, “To Oliver and M—-, in memory of the Feast of the Bells and many gasthofs, from Graham.” “One of the most true and moving novels of my time, in anybody’s language” (William Faulkner), End of the Affair also won praise by Evelyn Waugh, who declared it “singularly moving and beautiful.” On publication, the New York Times noted: “Greene’s verbal skill is as impressive as ever.” Original dust jacket, supplied from another copy, without very scarce Daily Mail belly band. Miller 29a. Book with embrowning to first and last few leaves, with inscription ghosted through to the half title, cloth spine and extremities toned. Dust jacket with mild wear, toning to spine and along flap seams, one small rub near foot of spine. A very good inscribed copy. “Hammett’s Finest Work And Possibly The Best American Detective Novel Ever Written” 32HAMMETT, Dashiell. The Maltese Falcon. New York and London, 1930. Octavo, original gray cloth. $5800 First edition of Hammett’s most famous and influential novel. In 1995, the Mystery Writers of America ranked The Maltese Falcon second in its top 100 mystery novels of all time (first was Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes works, and third Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination). On its publication, the New Republic called the novel “glistening and fascinating,” achieving “an absolute distinction of real art… [and] the genuine presence of myth” (Bruccoli & Layman, 119-20). “The only novel in which the famous Sam Spade appears, regarded by many as Hammett’s finest work, this is possibly the best American detective novel ever written” (Crown Crime Companion: Top 100 Mystery Novels 2). Without extremely scare original dust jacket. Text fine, cloth with staining to rear board and top of front board, spine unusually crisp. An extremely good copy.
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