The Winter Murder Case: A Philo Vance Story

$200 · Offered by Book Collector Inc

Author: S. S. Van Dine, [PSEUD Willard Huntington Wright (1888-1939)] Year: 1939 Publisher: Charles Scribner's Sons Place: New York Description: xviii+174+[7 ad] pages. Small octavo (7 1/2" x 5 1/4") bound in original publisher's black clot with red lettering to spine and cover in original publisher's jacket. ( Firsts 31) First edition. The last Philo Vance was published posthumously from the manuscript of a draft that was completed shortly before Wright's death. Maxwell Perkins, declined to change anything in it and published it as he found it. As a result, the book is quite short, less than half the length of the early titles. The classic format was followed: the index card and the stamping are in red and the book is bound in black cloth. It was priced at $1.75, the only one of the books not priced at $2.00. The print run was small. With exception of Benson and perhaps the Canary , this is the most elusive of the Vance titles. The Winter Murder Case (1939) is a Philo Vance novella that S. S. Van Dine intended to expand into his twelfth full-length book, a project cut short by his death. The Winter Murder Case seems especially similar to the B mystery movies of the 1930s, a cross between Van Dine's usual style and the film style. It was intended as a vehicle for Sonja Henie. Condition: Corners gently bumped, very light soiling, some offsetting to pastedowns. Jacket: Quarter inch chip at front heal inge, light edge wear with some closed tears and small chips, spine ends light

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.