Dr. Thorndyke's Discovery

FREEMAN, R. Austin

Published by Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1932

About this Item

First American Edition. -- Condition: Small stain to front endpapers, faint foxing to small area of top edge else fine in near fine dust jacket with a hint of fading to spine, and colour touch-up to green along spine and outer edges of front panel. -- Details: A superior example of this Dr. Thorndyke mystery, published the same year in London as 'When Rogues Fall Out'. Richard Austin Freeman (1862-1943), expert bookbinder, a capable wax and clay modeller, and an amateur painter of the academic school, as well as his own laboratory technician. To prospective interviews he invariably replies: 'I have no desire for personal publicity'. By all accounts, something of a cross between a genius and a nutcase, he built a bunker in his own back garden as a hobby, and was an innovator of forensic technique. He is best known for his John Thorndyke novels and short stories. First American edition, copyright page stating 'Copyright 1932' and no mention of additional printings. Published the same year in London as 'When Rogues Fall Out' by Hodder and Stoughton. -- References: Reilly, 'Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers' (1980), 611. Cooper & Pike, 'Detective Fiction', 140. Book and Magazine Collector, 2006, Issue No. 272, 39. Hubin, Crime Fiction, 157. -- Octavo (book size 19.4x13.8cm), pp. v [1] 312 [2]. In publisher's black cloth, green lettering to spine and upper board, small green vignette of man in top hat and cane to upper board, foredge untrimmed, others trimmed. Dust jacket priced '$2.00' to upper corner of front flap, all flaps with publisher's decorative trim to corners, colour touch-up to green along spine and outer edges of front panel. --. Seller Inventory # 110633

Bibliographic Details

Title: Dr. Thorndyke's Discovery

Publisher: Dodd, Mead & Company, New York

Publication Date: 1932

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Edition: 1st Edition.