THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS.
New York: George H. Doran Company, (1915). Original red cloth.
First American Edition of Buchan's best-known book, the classic mystery that has withstood the test of time both as a book and as a film. This was the first of Buchan's five mysteries to feature the detective Richard Hannay (the others being GREENMANTLE, MR. STANDFAST, THE THREE HOSTAGES and THE ISLAND OF SHEEP). The tale was of course the basis for one of Alfred Hitchcock's most highly-regarded early films, released in 1935.
This is a close-to-fine copy (no wear, but the gilt is less than bright -- though this was wartime, at least across the Atlantic...). In our experience, this American edition is considerably scarcer than the British one. See Blanchard A32 ("The first American edition was registered by George H. Doran Company on October 30, 1915 [eleven days after the British edition was published], but the records of the publisher's successor indicate that it was not actually issued until 1916, probably in February."). Item #14649
Price: $495.00