The Westing Game (signed first printing)

E.P. Dutton, New York. 1978. 8vo 185 pages. First edition, first printing. Signed, inscribed and dated by Ellen Raskin directly to the half-title page: For __ __, Boom! Ellen Raskin 6.27.79. Full numberline present on the copyright page: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. Winner of the 1979 Newbery Medal, edging out Katherine Paterson's the Great Gilly Hopkins. Rare first state dust jacket is present, with requisite no Newbery medal on front, and $7.95 price intact on DJ flap. Book is nearly near-fine with flaws limited to two gently pushed tips. Tiny minor scuff on side page deck. This highly condition-sensitive dust jacket is bright and clean with a faint wrinkle on jacket rear, and one tiny chip. Laid-in is a rare, original, just-published book advertisement, from 1978. As the story goes, the author, Ellen Raskin, flipped when she saw the book's binder had cut the margins too close, so she had 15,000 copies of the first printing shredded, making the initial print run even tinier, with the majority of the surviving copies headed for libraries, which explains why this landmark title is so rare in the first printing, and absolutely scarce, when you factor in signed copies, in collectible condition. In 2012, The Westing Game was ranked number nine all-time among children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal. First edition, first printing, in the rare first state DJ without the Newbery Medal present, with $7.95 price intact, signed. RARE.…