"I WAS AS EMPTY OF LIFE AS A SCARECROW'S POCKETS" CHANDLER, RAYMOND. The Big Sleep. 8vo, publisher's orange cloth stamped in blue, faint white smudging to rear cover; original pictorial dust jacket by Hans J. Barschel, folds rubbed, small chips and splits to folds professionally restored on verso, unclipped, few small stains to rear panel; rear end-leaf and free endpaper with upper corner restored, pastedowns darkened. New York: Knopf, 1939
first edition of chandler's first book, published when he was 51 years old. A very nice copy of a title frequently encountered in inferior condition. Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone. Bruccoli A1.1.a.
