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Van Dine, SS (pseud of Willard Huntington Wright) S SBiblio.com

THE SCARAB MURDER CASE: A PHILO VANCE STORY - INSCRIBED TO CAROLYN WELLS

1930rif. 8931New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1930. First Edition. First Printing second state with the publisher's "A" on copyright page and "1929 1930" dates directly above. Octavo 19.25cm; black cloth with titles stamped in yellow on spine and front cover; dustjacket; xiv328 10pp ads and one folding map. The Florence & Edward Kaye copy with their gilt-stamped morocco bookplate mounted to front pastedown. Inscribed on the front endpaper to American mystery author Carolyn Wells 1862-1942: "To Carolyn Wells Houghton / In appreciation and with sincerest regards / S.S. Van Dine." Rubbing to heel lower corners and a handful of letters at spine with some dust-soil to upper edge of textblock and a few dog-eared corners smoothed out; contents clean; Very Good or better. Dustjacket is unclipped priced $2.00 spine-sunned edgeworn with small losses to spine ends and a series of smaller nicks tears and attendant creases along the upper edge; Very Good. A remnant of the original pictorial wraparound band is laid in. Housed in a custom slipcase and chemise. Van Dine's fifth novel featuring amateur detective Philo Vance. "Benjamin H. Kyle a philanthropist and art patron is found murdered in a famous private museum in Gramercy Park. He has been struck over the head with a statue of Sekhmet the Egyptian goddess of vengeance and is lying in a pool of blood his arms outstretched toward a life-size statue of Anubis the god of the dead. The principal clew to the murder is a small lapis-lazuli scarab of Intef V a Pharaoh of the Seventeenth Dynasty" from front flap. Others are brought in to head up the investigation but naturally it's Philo Vance who solves the murder. A distinguished copy inscribed to Carolyn Wells one of the grand dames of the Golden Age of detective fiction and creator of the long-running Fleming Stone series. A proper association connecting two of the most prominent genre authors of their time. Penzler p.20; Hubin p.405. 8931. Charles Scribner's Sons unknown

Captain Ahab's Rare Books · Stati Uniti2500,00 USD≈ 2229,16 €

Van Dine, SS [Willard Huntington Wright] S SBiblio.com

Typed Letter Signed to Lewis E. Gensler from S.S. Van Dine with Western Union Wire from Van Dine to Gensler--1938

1938rif. 15131938. Typed Letter Signed to Lewis E. Gensler from S.S. Van Dine with Western Union Wire from Van Dine to Gensler--1938 Letter measures 10.5 x 7.25 inches; wire measures 6.5 x 8 inches. Letter is toned with previous folds--very good condition. Wire has chipping and wear to edges and is very toned--good condition. Verso blank on both. Enigmatic letter and telegram between two famed personalities of Hollywood S.S. Van Dine Willard Huntington Wright and Lewis Gensler. Willard Wright was an American art critic and social gadfly within entertainment circles but ultimately achieved financial success writing pot-boiler detective novels starring Philo Vance under the pseudonym of S.S. Van Dine. Lewis Gensler's work spanned both coasts as a composer songwriter author and producer. He often incorporated his songs into films he produced. His movie "College Swing" starring George Burns Gracie Allen Martha Raye and Bob Hope is referenced in Van Dine's letter. Gensler primarily was associated with Paramount Pictures. Van Dine humorously writes in the undated letter "We ironed out a few details straightened a couple of incipient kinks and beat the shell game by lifting the hat hiding what seemed to be the most promising idea." Van Dine had just had a lunch date with a "Mr. Holman" who likely worked with Lewis Gensler. The telegram dated Feb. 24 1938 sent the day before Van Dine was to meet Holman states "Outline going first rate and licking nicely with a double snapper. With no more Jack Louis fights scheduled hereabouts and all the local racetracks closed you should have a first draft in a week or ten days." In the early 1930's Van Dine wrote screen treatments for Warner Brothers including 12 two-reel "murder mystery" short films. Piecing the dates together we surmise Van Dine was writing the screenplay for the "Gracie Allen Murder Case" his last novel. The novel published in 1938 was released as a movie produced by Paramount Pictures shortly after Van Dine would pass away in April 1939. unknown

Stellar Books & Ephemera, ABAA · Stati Uniti225,00 USD≈ 200,62 €

VAN DINE SS WRIGHT Willard Huntington S SABAA

Benson Murder Case

1928rif. 1095801928. Signed. WRIGHT Willard Huntington VAN DINE S.S. The Benson Murder Case. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1928. Octavo contemporary three-quarter green crushed morocco elaborately gilt-decorated spine raised bands decorative endpapers top edge gilt. $1400.Third edition of the first Philo Vance novel by legendary critic and editor Willard Wright under the pseudonym of S.S.Van Dine a Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone mystery a splendid presentation copy inscribed by him to his close friend ""To Norbert L. Lederer. In memory of Hopatcong and the Uberbrettl movementÑthe place and the subject which resulted in our friendship. S.S. Van Dine New York.""Lederer the recipient of this distinctive copy was a close friend of Wright who published his Philo Vance series under the pseudonym of S.S. Van Dine. When Wright was ordered to take a break from overwork Lederer stepped in and told his friend to instead ""devote his life to writing crime novels"" Sanchez Jose Raul Capablanca 276. Lederer offered Wright access to his ""vast collection of detective fiction.É Wright then read all of the authors of crime fiction old and newÉ and decided he could do better"" Backer Mystery Movie Series 5-6. As Wright began working on Benson Murder Case the first Philo Vance novel he asked Lederer a member of the prestigious Manhattan Chess Club to arrange a meeting with Alexander Alekhine who became the Fourth World Champion of Chess in 1927. Wright used that meeting to gain background for Philo Vance's talent for solving chess-related murders. In 1933 New Yorker magazine reported that Lederer ""gave S. S.Van Dine the chess and mathematical dope for The Bishop Murder Case.""When Wright began ""crafting his influential theory of detective fiction he drafted several story outlines and submitted three to Maxwell Perkins at Scribner's promptly receiving a contract."" Benson Murder Case launched ""what Haycraft has called the ""Golden AgeÉ Van Dine's place in the history of the American detective story is secure and important"" Reilly 1415. ""Philo Vance was an American cousin to Lord Peter Wimsey and forefather of many later detectives"" Hardy BFI Companion to Crime 137. At his death Wright was ""the best known American writer of the detective story since PoeÉ His name will endure among the immortals of the literature"" Haycraft 168. Preceded by the 1926 first and 1927 second editions. With page of publisher's advertisement at rear. Reilly 1414. Hubin 414. Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone. See Barzun & Taylor 3268. From the library of Norbert L. Lederer with his bookplate. The ""berbrettl movement"" of Wright's inscription highlights a type of literary cabaret popular in Berlin at the turn of the century; ""hopatcong"" likely refers to an area not far from New York City. The two men shared a keen interest in chess and Lake Hopatcong was the center for major chess tournaments in the 1920s including one in 1926 won by the chess champion defeated by Alekhine in 1927. A suspect in The 'Canary' Murder Case the second Philo Vance novel complains of getting ticketed for speeding while ""driving down to Hopatcong.""Text fine lightest edge-wear faint toning to spine. An about-fine presentation copy. hardcover books