Slim [*SIGNED*]
by Haines, William Wister
- Used
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine in Near Fine dj
- Seller
-
Los Angeles, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Near Fine in Near Fine dj. 1934. First Edition. Hardcover. [very nice copy, light shelfwear, a trace of foxing on fore-edge, bookplate on front pastedown; the jacket is remarkably clean and well-preserved, with some minor wear along the top and bottom edges, slight browning to spine, and one tiny nick mid-spine]. A beautiful copy of the author's first book, SIGNED by him directly beneath his printed signature on the title page, and just above one of illustrator Robert Lawson's drawings of the title character. Haines began working as a telephone lineman during summer vacations while in college (University of Pennsylvania), and took on the work full-time upon his graduation in 1931. His experiences on that job provided fodder for his literary efforts, including his first published short stories and two novels, this one and the subsequent "High Tension" in 1937. Time Magazine said of this novel that "in celebrating his craft and the men who pursue it, [the author] has not overlooked the fact that novel writing is also a craft in itself. He has mastered the new calling as thoroughly as his hero, Slim, mastered the job of wire stringing. The tale is by turns hard-boiled, sentimental, tragic, humorous. But the toughness, the sentiment, the tragedy and the humor all belong to a man's world." The success of "Slim" put Haines on the path to Hollywood -- Warner Bros. bought the novel and hired him to write the adaptation (the film, starring Henry Fonda, was released in 1937), and he stuck around and wrote a dozen or so screenplays over the next 25 years. (Notable credits were BLACK LEGION, THE TEXANS, and THE WINGS OF EAGLES; the 1948 film COMMAND DECISION was based on his novel and play.) I suspect this novel has a cult following among telephone linemen and/or collectors of memorabilia related thereto -- in fact, at one point on there was even a line of "Slim" t-shirts reproducing one of the wonderful Lawson "decorations" that are sprinkled throughout the text. Signed by Author .
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Details
- Bookseller
- ReadInk (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 14969
- Title
- Slim [*SIGNED*]
- Author
- Haines, William Wister
- Illustrator
- (dj/endpapers/decorations) Robert Lawson
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine in Near Fine dj
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- Little, Brown and Company
- Place of Publication
- Boston
- Date Published
- 1934
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Telephone, Linemen, Depression, Railroads, Electricians, Robert Lawson, First Novel, Movie Source, Henry Fonda
Terms of Sale
ReadInk
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About the Seller
ReadInk
Biblio member since 2003
Los Angeles, California
About ReadInk
Now in our 24th year of on-line bookselling, ReadInk offers an eclectic selection of quality books in a variety of subject areas. We are dedicated to the first-class treatment of every book we sell and its new owner (our customer). All orders and inquiries receive our prompt, personal attention. Our grading of a book's condition is conservative ("Fine" is our highest grade, and used sparingly); all significant flaws are described, but we will be happy to provide additional information and/or a scanned image upon request. Your book will be shipped promptly, well-wrapped and securely packaged; the dust jacket, if any, will be enclosed in a new Brodart cover.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Shelfwear
- Minor wear resulting from a book being place on, and taken from a bookshelf, especially along the bottom edge.
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....