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SYMONS, JULIAN: : GREAT DETECTIVES: SEVEN ORIGINAL INVESTIGATIONS. [Illus by Tom Adams.]

US.NEW YORK,N.Y.,HARRY N. ABRAMS,INCORPORATED,1981.

ISBN 0810909782.

US,slim Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn. FINE/FINE-. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj - absence of published price.Bright,crisp,clean, glossy,sharp-cornered,glossy wrap-around dark green background with 7 colour pictorial subjects' portrait illustrated oval vignettes to front panel of dw/dj,with capitalised cream-lettered title,author name and illustrator's name; spine/backstrip with similarly coloured+ lettered part-title,author+ illustrator's surnames only and publisher's name to foot of same,rear panel with a bordered,small,upright rectangular panel with a colour pictorial illustration by Tom Adams within the borders and cream-lettered and numbered ISBN to rear,fore-edge,top corner.Negligible shelf-wear,bumping, creasing to edges and corners – a couple of corner tips of dw/dj minisculely rubbed - but no other nicks,tears or splits present.Both panels of dw/dj with minimal,superficial scoring/ indents without penetration to boards beneath. Top+fore-edges bright,crisp and clean without foxing; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread,other than my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp, unblemished,sharp-cornered,original plain cream cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip,a cream+brown striped  headband,and immaculate plain cream endpapers. US,slim Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7-143pp [paginated] includes author's Introduction, Artist's Note,7 biographical sketches/portraits/investigations pieces on Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Nero Wolfe, Ellery Queen, Maigret, Hercule Poirot and Philip Marlowe respectively, accompanied by full+part page colour+sepia illustrations by Tom Adams,interspersed throughout the text and the book,Notes to the Investigations.a bibliography with author's thumbnail monochrome portrait photograph wit colour frntis to its reverse,a title page,and a Contents list/ table with a colour pictorial vignette to its reverse. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and particularly internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 40+ year-old age.It is only the dw's/dj's minimal,minor exterior faults described that prevents a slightly higher overall grading, especially for the dw/dj.Despite them,it really is still an exceptional,exemplary example for its copy for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of any other major detractions.                 Crime writer Julian Symons and illustrator Tom Adams imagine "what happened afterwards" to major fictional crime detectives,including Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Archie Goodwin, Ellery Queen, Maigret, Hercule Poirot,and Philip Marlowe.                                          In 1957 he compiled a list of what he considered to be the 100 top mystery books. During the 1970s Symons edited the mystery list for Penguin and for decades was the best known crime critic in the UK,with an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre.In 1972 he published the first edition of 'Bloody Murder',a personal history of the detective story. A poet,novelist and scholar,Julian Gustave Symons (1912-1994),he had over 80 books published in his lifetime. Amongst them were biographies of Chas. Dickens and Thomas Carlyle as well as studies of Dashiell Hammett, Agatha Christie - see my book ID rja449513, Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe.                              Readers of the detective story have puzzles for decades over intriguing questions about their heroes - and heroines.The seven investigations/ pastiches include Sherlock Holmes, Nero Wolfe, Philip Marlowe, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen and Maigret.                 Now,Symons,himself a master crime writer, suggests some of the answers in the form of amusing and revealing incidents in the lives of the world's most famous detectives,together with some hitherto undocumented case histories. With him we walk the roads and lanes of St Mary Mead in the company of its vicar,learning many fascinating details of miss Marples's past.We quiz Archie Goodwin in his den and gain a clue to the ultimate fate of Nero Wolfe.We disentangle the facts of Poirot's career from the rumours,and uncover the history of Ellery Queen. While the stealthiest detective buff will find this new information essential reading,the newcomer will simply be delighted by this introduction to the worlds of 'The Great Detectives'.                                     Tom Adams (b. March 29th,1926 – d. December 9th, 2019) was a US-born Anglo-Scots illustrator and painter.Trained at the Chelsea School of Art and Goldsmiths College,where he received a National Diploma of Painting in 1949.Between 1953 and 1960 Adams provided illustrations for the youth-oriented UK publications Eagle Girl and Swift.Long active in a variety of visual formats,he is known for his work in book cover art,portrait painting, poster,advertising and album art.He is most widely known for his book cover art for the (UK) Fontana paperback editions of Agatha Christie. Adams began a career as a book cover illustrator,most notably for the early John Fowles novels 'The Collector', 'The Magus' and 'The French Lieutenants Woman' and the aforementioned p/back covers for Agatha Christie [Collins (UK),and Simon & Schuster (US).] A book on these cover paintings,'Tom Adams' Agatha Christie Cover Story.' with commentary by Julian Symons and an Introduction by John Fowles,was published in 1981 by Dragons World,(published as 'Agatha Christie: The Art of her Crimes' in the US - seemy book ID rja449513).     Another monograph: 'Tom Adams Uncovered', HarperCollins (UK),2015.He also designed several covers for Raymond Chandler and also created covers for Patrick White's 'The Vivisector', David Storey's 'Saville', Peter Straub's 'Ghost Story' and Kingsley Amis' Colonel Sun'. Adams' book cover artwork,while usually instantly recognizable,runs to quite distinct modes.Some covers are stylized still-life tableaux; some are depictions of a scene in the novel; some are surrealist collages - collations of items and images.Adams illustrated the covers for the Agatha Christie p/backs for twenty-eight years, 1962-1980.He was involved in films as a concept illustrator for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Mike Hodge's Flash Gordon (1980) and Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce (1985) and also working with Nicolas Roeg and designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti. Please contact seller,because of the weight of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!                N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

US,slim Qrto HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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