Dec 6, 2024 10:00 EST
Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
736
Chandler's final novel, inscribed to the dedicatee's son
Estate / Collection: The Jean Vounder-Davis Collection of Raymond Chandler
CHANDLER, RAYMOND
Playback. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1958. First American edition, stated first printing, inscribed "For Vincent/with my best/ love Ray/Raymond Chandler/La Jolla, October 1958/Sorry I made a mistake up above/Read this book carefully./[R]/I may not write it again." Publisher's decorated cloth, in original dust jacket. The inscription with a label correcting the recipient’s name and with a small abraded area touching the label, some light toning to endleaves, the dust jacket rubbed along extremities with some chips and minor losses at tips and folds.
Playback, begun by Raymond Chandler as screenplay in 1947, was largely written as a novel in La Jolla in 1957-58 using the Olivetti Studio 44 typewriter offered in this collection. Playback is the seventh Philip Marlowe novel and the only set somewhere outside Los Angeles, taking place in Esmeralda, a fictional name for La Jolla. During the period in which Chandler was writing the novel, Jean Fracasse, first hired in January 1957 as Chandler's personal secretary but quickly became his close friend, confidant, fiancé and muse, provided critical support in assisting him in completing the novel. Jean is the book's dedicatee along with literary agent Helga Green, this being the only Chandler novel with a dedication.
Inscribed copies of this last novel are scarce and this is copy is inscribed for Vincent Fracasse, the dedicatee's son. There clearly was an error in the name that Chandler felt needed correction with a white label. The inscription bears three signatures: it is signed as "Ray," in full as "Raymond Chandler," and is initialed with a boxed-in "R. Playback was published first in London before the United States and Chandler inscribed some copies while visiting there around the time of publication, including a copy inscribed for Ian Fleming. Helga Greene's inscribed copy was later part of the Neville Collection. Jean Fracasse's inscribed copy was sold at Sotheby's as part of the first selection from this collection 2011. Bruccoli A11.2.a.
Sold for $4,480
Estimated at $3,000 - $5,000
Includes Buyer's Premium
Estate / Collection: The Jean Vounder-Davis Collection of Raymond Chandler
CHANDLER, RAYMOND
Playback. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1958. First American edition, stated first printing, inscribed "For Vincent/with my best/ love Ray/Raymond Chandler/La Jolla, October 1958/Sorry I made a mistake up above/Read this book carefully./[R]/I may not write it again." Publisher's decorated cloth, in original dust jacket. The inscription with a label correcting the recipient’s name and with a small abraded area touching the label, some light toning to endleaves, the dust jacket rubbed along extremities with some chips and minor losses at tips and folds.
Playback, begun by Raymond Chandler as screenplay in 1947, was largely written as a novel in La Jolla in 1957-58 using the Olivetti Studio 44 typewriter offered in this collection. Playback is the seventh Philip Marlowe novel and the only set somewhere outside Los Angeles, taking place in Esmeralda, a fictional name for La Jolla. During the period in which Chandler was writing the novel, Jean Fracasse, first hired in January 1957 as Chandler's personal secretary but quickly became his close friend, confidant, fiancé and muse, provided critical support in assisting him in completing the novel. Jean is the book's dedicatee along with literary agent Helga Green, this being the only Chandler novel with a dedication.
Inscribed copies of this last novel are scarce and this is copy is inscribed for Vincent Fracasse, the dedicatee's son. There clearly was an error in the name that Chandler felt needed correction with a white label. The inscription bears three signatures: it is signed as "Ray," in full as "Raymond Chandler," and is initialed with a boxed-in "R. Playback was published first in London before the United States and Chandler inscribed some copies while visiting there around the time of publication, including a copy inscribed for Ian Fleming. Helga Greene's inscribed copy was later part of the Neville Collection. Jean Fracasse's inscribed copy was sold at Sotheby's as part of the first selection from this collection 2011. Bruccoli A11.2.a.
Auction: Rare Books, Autographs & Maps, Dec 6, 2024
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Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on December 6, 2024
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Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions
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We Invite You to Contact Us for a Complimentary Auction Evaluation of Your Books, Autographs & Maps
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle held a successful auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps onDecember 6, 2024 showcased is a wonderful diversity of Americana, maps, autographs, early books and landmarks of literature and science.
Highlighting the sale was the first edition of Spinoza's Tractatus theologico-politicus from 1670 that soared to $70,350. Spinoza’s Tractatus is his only work published during his lifetime and remains his most significant. It presents a clear theory of natural right, asserting that the love of God leads to love for others. The state exists to ensure liberty, not oppression, with justice, wisdom, and toleration as key. Influential to thinkers like Blake and Goethe, it shaped Romanticism.
The Jean Vounder-Davis Collection offered the largest trove of unpublished Raymond Chandler stories, poetry, letters, books and personal artifacts to come to market. Best known for his Philip Marlowe detective novels including The Big Sleep (1939) and Farewell, My Lovely (1940) and as screenwriter of film noir classics such as Double Indemnity (1944) and The Blue Dahlia (1946), Raymond Chandler is considered one of the top writers in the hardboiled fiction genre alongside Dashiell Hammett and James Cain. Held for decades, the archive belonged to Jean Fracasse [later Vounder-Davis] who was first hired in January 1957 as Chandler's personal secretary but quickly became his close friend, confidant, fiancé and muse to whom he dedicated his last book.
We Invite You to Auction!
Consignments are currently being accepted for future auctions. We invite you to contact us for a complimentary auction evaluation. Our Specialists are always available to discuss the sale of a single item or an entire collection.
For information, please contact Peter Costanzo at 212-427-4141 ext 248, Edward Ripley-Duggan at ext 234, or Noah Goldrach at ext 226, or email Books@Doyle.com
