The Maltese Falcon Hardcover - 2022

Name: The Maltese Falcon
Price: 21.82 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Hammett, Dashiell
ISBN: 9788196033194

by Dashiell Hammett

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About this book

The Maltese Falcon, author Dashiell Hammett’s third novel, set the standard by which all subsequent detective fiction would be judged. Set in San Francisco in the late 1920s, the novel introduces us to private detective Sam Spade, who characterizes the archetype of the hard-boiled detective in his dead-pan pursuit of the recovery of a black figurine. Having worked for a time for the Pinkerton Detective Agency in San Francisco, Hammett reportedly drew upon his years as a detective in creating Spade and many of the other characters for The Maltese Falcon.

The Maltese Falcon was originally serialized in HL Mencken’s “pulp” magazine, Black Mask, beginning with the September 1929 issue. For publication of the book form, editor Blanche Knopf tried to tone down the overt sexuality of the magazine version, fearing the references would alienate readers, but Hammett prevailed. However, the 1941 film adaptation starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor (the best known of the novel’s three film versions) excised the homosexual subtext of the novel due to Production Code restraints. Today, the movie is considered a film noir classic and the novel is ranked 56th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century as well as 54th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels.

From the publisher

The Maltese Falcon is a 1930 detective novel by American writer Dashiell Hammett. The story is told entirely in external third-person narrative; there is no description whatsoever of any character's thoughts or feelings, only what they say and do, and how they look. The novel has been adapted several times for the cinema.

The main character, Sam Spade (who also appeared later in some lesser-known short stories), was a departure from Hammett's nameless detective, The Continental Op. Spade combined several features of previous detectives, notably his cold detachment, keen eye for detail, unflinching and sometimes ruthless determination to achieve his own form of justice, and a complete lack of sentimentality.

In 1990 the novel ranked 10th in Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time list by the Crime Writers' Association. Five years later, in a similar list by Mystery Writers of America, the novel was ranked third.

First Edition Identification

Originally published in serial form in the magazine Black Mask, it was published in book form by Alfred A. Knopf in New York in 1930. Bound in grey cloth, the book is perhaps more well-known for its iconic yellow dust-jacket, with its deco typeface and stark image of a perched falcon. As is the custom for Alfred Knopf from this period, the first edition is recognizable by the absence of any statement of printing on the copyright page. The first state dust jacket has an advertisement on the rear panel for Hammett's other novels, priced at $2.00.

One of the most desirable of all modern first editions, the Maltese Falcon can fetch upwards of $100,000 in a pristine first state jacket, and easily five figures in a second state jacket.

Details

Title The Maltese Falcon
Author Dashiell Hammett
Binding Hardcover
Pages 254
Volumes 1
Language ENG
Publisher Sanage Publishing House Llp
Date 2022-12-20
ISBN 9788196033194 / 8196033192
Weight 1.04 lbs (0.47 kg)
Dimensions 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.69 in (21.59 x 13.97 x 1.75 cm)
Dewey Decimal Code FIC

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The Maltese Falcon

by Hammett, Dashiell

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13

9788196033194 / 8196033192

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Sanage Publishing House Llp, 2022-12-20. hardcover. Good. 5x0x8. No dust jacket. Ex-library book with typical stickers and stampings. Priority Mail is available on this item. No international shipping.