Results
FIVE.
New York: Farrar & Rinehart, Incorporated Publishers, [1931]. Octavo, pp. [1-6] [1-2] 3-270 [271-274: blank], publisher's light orange cloth stamped in brown, top edge stained light, other edges untrimmed. First edition. First of the two novels by Whitfield published under the pseudonym "Temple Field." First published in Black Mask magazine in nine parts as "The Laughing Death" series. Interestingly it was published as Raoul Whitfield. The story involves a flying ace from the Great War (Whitfield did fly in WWI) whose father a prosecuting attorney is murdered. The protagonist wreak vengeance upon the five men involved. This was largely rewritten from the magazine version. [Reference: Hubin, p. 282].
KILLERS' CARNIVAL.
New York: Farrar & Rinehart Incorporated Publishers, [1932]. Octavo, pp. [1-10] 1-274 [275-278: blank], publisher's red cloth stamped in black, top edge stained gray, other edges rough trimmed. First edition. The dedication is one of the best in hard-boiled fiction: "This book is warningly dedicated to all them fellers whose rackets are so tough they figure guns are sweeter things to pack around then umbrellas." A violent tough guy novel of murder and revenge on the mean streets of New York City. Published in Black Mask in six parts. [Reference: Hubin, p. 282].
DANGER ZONE.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1931. Octavo, [i-vi] vii [viii] [1-2] 3-209 [210: blank], frontispiece and two interior illustrations by Frank Dobias, original light gray cloth, front and spine stamped in red, illustrated endpapers, top edge stained red. First edition. An early Whitfield novel written for young adults about young pilots going off to fight in World War I, probably based on his own experience as an American aviator in the last months of the war. Raoul Whitfield is best known for his hard-boiled crime fiction published in BLACK MASK.
DEATH IN A BOWL.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1931. Octavo, pp. [1-12] [1-2] 3-266 [267: blank] [268: printer's information] [269-272: blank], original light orange cloth, front stamped in black, spine stamped in green and black, rear stamped in black, fore edge uncut, bottom edge rough cut, top edge stained. Second printing (copyright page: Published March 1931, First and second printings before publicaton). Hard boiled crime novel set in Los Angeles. [Reference: Hubin, p. 860].
GREEN ICE.
Boston: Gregg Press, 1980. Octavo, cloth. New edition. New introduction to this edition by Pete Hamill. First of his three hard boiled novels by this Black Mask writer. "The novel is quite representative of the best of the hard-boiled novels." - Pronzini & Muller: 1001 Midnights, p. 839-840.
GREEN ICE.
New York, London: Alfred A. Knopf, MCMXXX [1930]. Octavo, pp. [1-2: blank] [3-10] [1-2] 3-282 [283: colophon] [284-285: ads] [286-290: blank], title page printed in green and back, publisher's light blue cloth stamped in brown and black, top edge stained brown, other edges rough trimmed. First edition. Taken from five linked stories published in Black Mask between 1929-30, this is the first of three hard-boiled novels under his own name. The plot involves murder and missing emeralds and plenty of tough guy patter. This was published the same year as Dashiell Hammett's THE MALTESE FALCON. Hammett had a column in the New York Evening Post in which he writes of the novel - "The plot doesn't matter. What matters is that here are 280 pages of naked action pounded into tough compactness by staccato, hammer-like writing." Whitfield was one the favorite Black Mask writers who unfortunately died young at the age of 48. "The novel is quite representative of the best of the hard-boiled novels" (Pronzini & Muller: 1001 Midnights, pp. 839-840). [Reference: Hubin, p. 86].
THE VIRGIN KILLS.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, MCMXXXII [1932]. Octavo, pp. [1-2: blank] [3-8] [1-2] 3-270 [271: blank] [272: colophon] [273-276: blank], publisher's tan cloth stamped in brown and purple, top edge stained brown. First edition. This is the author's last crime novel. Set on the East Coast and involving murders around a regatta on the Hudson River. This was an original novel with no prior magazine appearance. [Reference: Hubin, p. 86].
WEST OF GUAM: THE COMPLETE CASES OF JO GAR...
Boston, Philadelphia, New York: Altus Press and Black Mask Press, 2013. Octavo, stiff pictorial wrappers. First edition, updated and expanded. Collects all stories featuring Jo Gar, a detective, set in the Philippines. Twenty six stories in all. Twenty four published in Black Mask pulp magazine (1930-33) with the final two in Hearst International-Cosmopolitan (1935 and 1937). The stories in Black Mask were published under the "Ramon Decolta" pseudonym.