The Thin Man. New York: Knopf, 1934.



8vo (188 x 126 mm). Publisher's red and blue-decorated green cloth in pictorial dust-jacket (the red variant, priced $2.00 and with blurbs on inner flap), BOMC sticker on front jacket panel as often found; cloth faded, one bottom corner exposing to boards, jacket rear panel lacking large portions along top edge, spine panel very rubbed, front panel largely intact with chips at extremities and edge tears, separation along front flap fold, in red leather case with blind-stamped Hammett on front.

See: Johnson, Diane. Dashiell Hammett: A Life. pp. 120-124; 307, 326.

First edition, inscribed by Hammett to his long-suffering young MGM secretary and chaperone, who helped him complete the Oscar winning story for After the Thin Man, the sequel to the first Nick and Nora film.

"To Mildred / with / thanks for finishing / the sequel for me / and M♉GM / Dashiell Hammett / Bel Air /🅘 1 /6/ 36"

A heavily drinking and lonely hammett struggles to build on his burgeoning film career.

The Mildred named in the inscription is Mildred Lewis, sent by the studio to encourage Hammett to work on the sequel script for the successful The Thin Man, a seemingly plum assignment for the 20 year-old niece of a studi♕o executive.

Yet Hammett was not in a cooperative mood. Lewis would often wait for hours until the hung-over Hammett would emerge from upstairs, usually in the middle afternoon, frequently later and sometimes not all. Her presence could be met with silence, or he would call her upstairs to sit on his bed and work on crossword puzzle﷽s. Occasionally he would quietly embrace her, but his attentions never devolved to overtly sexual advances. (No matte🤡r Lillian Hellman's suspicions, she was intently uncomfortable with this "working arrangement").

With such behavior Hammett would ease  into his daily rou𝄹tine, which unfortunately didn't seem to involve producing any serious work toward a finishe🦩d script for an anxious MGM.

Yet, in spite of the awkward silences and lack of sustained writing, Mildred certainly must have enjoyed much of her🀅 baby-sitting (though pulling his face from the gutter of Hollywood restaurants further tr♔ied her patience). Hammett took her out on the town, for fine meals and better drinking, supplying her handfuls of chips to gamble with on many occasions (she remarked how he "burned through money").  

The next mornings the routine would resume.  Mildred was driven by a studio car back to his Bel Air home, often arriving in time to watch call girls (sometimes a succession) descend from upstairsཧ and leave; and so she would again begin her wait for the author to appear. Eventually however Hamett was motivated by the money he loved to spend so freely and the large sum promised by MGM slowly pushed his 14 page outline t♑o a finished script by September, 1935.

Hammett returned to New York shortly after inscribing this copy. On January 17 he was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital  to be treated for venereal disease and general ill health. The film After the Thin Man was released in December 1936 anꦡd wo♒n an Oscar for Best Screenplay.

Inscribed copies of The Thin Man are scarce with only three sold at auction since 199𒐪0 (with one being a later printing) and those relating directly to his Hollywood work are particularly uncommon. Rarer still are ones such as this, evoking his famous decline and preference for the bar rather than the typewriter.

This is without question the most significant presentation cop🎃y of the first edition to be offered since the dedication copy inscribed to Lillian Hellman was sold in the Neville collection, Sotheby's New York, 16 No🦩vember, 2004, lot 538, $85,000.

This is with🐭out question the most significant example to be offerred since the dediication copy to Lillian Hellman was sold in the Neville collection, Sotheby's New York, 16 November, 2004, lot 538, $85,000.