Film & TV source books
BLUE CITY.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's third novel. "The texture of the world in this novel is reminiscent of Dashiell Hammett's fiction, though its sensibility and imagery show the influence of Raymond Chandler as well...The mixture of Hammett's harsh world of political corruption and Chandler's sensual decadence are both apparent here." - Pederson (ed.): The St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers (4th ed.), pp. 667-678. Filmed in 1986 with Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and David Caruso. Hubin, p. 573.
BLUE CITY.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's third novel. "The texture of the world in this novel is reminiscent of Dashiell Hammett's fiction, though its sensibility and imagery show the influence of Raymond Chandler as well...The mixture of Hammett's harsh world of political corruption and Chandler's sensual decadence are both apparent here." - Pederson (ed.): The St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers (4th ed.), pp. 667-678. Filmed in 1986 with Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and David Caruso. Hubin, p. 573.
DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, [1990]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Signed by Mosley. Author's first novel which introduces Easy Rawlins. Filmed in 1995 with Denzel Washington in the title role.
BOTANY BAY.
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1941. Octavo, pp. [i-vii] viii [1-3] 4-374 [375-376], jacket illustration by N. C. Wyeth, blue-green cloth, front and spine stamped in silver, top edge stained red, map end papers. First edition. Historical novel about the Australian penal colony. Filmed in 1953 with Alan Ladd, James Mason and Patricia Medina.
BOTANY BAY.
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1941. Octavo, pp. [i-vii] viii [1-3] 4-374 [375-376], jacket illustration by N. C. Wyeth, blue-green cloth, front and spine stamped in silver, top edge stained red, map end papers. First edition. Historical novel about the Australian penal colony. Filmed in 1953 with Alan Ladd, James Mason and Patricia Medina.
EACH DAWN I DIE.
Indianapolis, New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1938]. Octavo, original blue cloth, design stamped in blind to front cover and spine, lettering stamped in gold to front and spine. First edition. Basis for the 1939 Warner Brothers film directed by William Keighley starring James Cagney as Frank Ross, a reporter who is doing a story on political corruption but is framed and sent to prison before he can get his story out. Also stars George Raft as the gangster in prison Cagney seeks help from.
THE DUMB GODS SPEAK
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1937. Octavo, pp. [i-v] vi-ix [x] [1-3] 4-304 [305-309: list of Oppenheim's books] [310: blank], jacket art by Bip Pares, original black cloth, front and spine stamped in blueish green. First edition. Spy thriller with science fiction elements. The Philippines have been granted independence by the United States and Japan attempts to invade, a super science device disables the entire Japanese fleet. This is where the story begins. The story includes advanced television devices and a sort of EMP weaponry. An international spy organization wishes to turn Russia and China into constitutional monarchies in the hope of avoiding a world war. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 72. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War (1992), p. 241. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 170. Bleiler (1978), p. 151. Reginald 11011.
THE GREAT PRINCE SHAN.
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1922. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1-3] 4-303 [304: blank] [305: ads] [306-308: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], original decorated blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. First U.S. edition. A tale of political intrigue set in the near future (1934). England has relaxed militarily, seemingly secure with membership in the League of Nations. Germany, Russia, Japan and China plot against them. China has secretly built a fleet of 1000 advanced airships which can be used to conquer any country in the world. The world is on the brink of a new world war and China's brilliant leader, Prince Shan, uses his power and diplomacy to establish a new world order. Filmed in 1924 with Sessue Hayakawa. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 1725. Bleiler (1978), p. 151. Reginald 11016. Hubin (1994), p. 616.
THE STRANGER'S GATE.
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1939. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1-3] 4-328 [329-333: ads] [334-336: blank], original black cloth, front and spine stamped in orange, top edge stained orange, fore and bottom edges rough trimmed. First edition. A setting in the Balkans concerning an important bauxite mining operation of which the Germans are interested in. Hubin (1994), p. 618.
THE WRATH TO COME.
Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1924. Octavo, pp. [1-8] [1] 2-355 [356: blank] [357: ads] [358-360: blank], original orange cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black. First edition. Germany, Russian and Japan ally together and plot against the United States in 1950. In this day the United States, while the world's richest country, is mostly is a state of disarmament. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 1726. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 52. Clarke, Voices Prophesying War (1992), p. 237. Bleiler (1978), p. 151. Reginald 11022.Hubin (1994), p. 618.
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, [1949]. Octavo, cloth. First U.S. edition. Among the handful of most influential novels published in the twentieth century. Filmed several times starting in 1956 with Edmund O'Brien, again in 1965 and most recently in 1984 starring Richard Burton. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 4-450; (1981) 3-580; (1987) 3-302; and (1995) 3-140. Connolly, The Modern Movement: 100 Key Books… 99. Gerber, Utopian Fantasy (1973), p. 157. Lewis, Utopian Literature, pp. 139-40. Negley, Utopian Literature: A Bibliography 114. Pringle, Science Fiction: 100 Best Novels 1. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, p. 236. Survey of Science Fiction Literature III, pp. 1531-36. In 333. Reginald 11041.
ALL KNEELING.
New York and London: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1928. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Basis for the Nicholas Ray film noir Born to Be Bad (1950) with Joan Fontaine, Zachary Scott and Robert Ryan.
ALONG CAME A SPIDER.
Boston: Little, Brown, 1993. Octavo, Hardcover. First edition. The first Alex Cross novel. Filmed in 2001 starring Morgan Freeman.
[GORMENGHAST SEQUENCE]: TITUS GROAN; GORMENGHAST; and TITUS ALONE.
London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1946-1959. Octavo, cloth. First editions, three volumes. The first volume, Titus Groan is signed by the Peake on the front free end paper. The three published books of the "Gormenghast" sequence. Comprises Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950), and Titus Alone (1959). Gormenghast was filmed by the BBC in 2000 as a television mini-series. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 3-285. Cawthorn and Moorcock, Fantasy: The 100 Best Books 64. Manlove, Modern Fantasy, pp. 207-57. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels 1, 10, and 23. Schlobin, The Literature of Fantasy 867-869. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature IV, pp. 1947-53. Reginald 11248,11244 and 11246.
[GORMENGHAST SEQUENCE]: TITUS GROAN; GORMENGHAST; and TITUS ALONE.
London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1946-1959. Octavo, cloth. First editions. The three published books of the "Gormenghast" sequence. Comprises Titus Groan (1946), Gormenghast (1950), and Titus Alone (1959). Gormenghast was filmed by the BBC in 2000 as a television mini-series. Barron (ed), Fantasy Literature 3-285. Cawthorn and Moorcock, Fantasy: The 100 Best Books 64. Manlove, Modern Fantasy, pp. 207-57. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels 1, 10, and 23. Schlobin, The Literature of Fantasy 867-869. Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature IV, pp. 1947-53. Reginald 11248,11244 and 11246.
THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES' SMARTER BROTHER.
New York: Ballantine Books, 1975. Small octavo, pictorial wrappers. First edition. Paperback original. Sherlockiana. Based on the screenplay by Gene Wilder. Includes stills from the motion picture.
THE FENCING MASTER.
London: The Harvill Press, [1999]. Octavo, boards. First British edition (first edition in English). Signed by the author on the title page. Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa. Filmed in 1992 (El Maestro de esgrima).
THE FENCING MASTER.
New York, San Diego, London: Harcourt Brace & Company, [1999]. Octavo, boards. First U.S. edition. Signed by the author on the title page. Translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa. Filmed in 1992 (El Maestro de esgrima).
MONEY MEN and ONE-SHOT DEAL.
New York: Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich, 1981. Octavo, Hardcover. First edition. Author's first book. Basis for the Wesley Snipes film Boiling Point.
THE ICE HARVEST.
[Tucson, AZ: Dennis McMillan Publications], 2000. Octavo, leather-backed boards. First edition. One of 225 numbered cloth copies signed by Phillips. The author's first novel, a noir crime novel which takes place during the Christmas holiday. Made into a feature film in 2005 with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton.
THE ICE HARVEST.
New York: Ballantine Books, [2000]. Octavo, boards. First trade edition. The author's first novel, a noir crime novel which takes place during the Christmas holiday. Made into a feature film in 2005 with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton.
MUTE WITNESS.
Garden City, New York: Published For The Crime Club By Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1963. Octavo, cloth. First edition. This book was the source material for the Steve McQueen feature film "Bullitt" The feature character Lt. Clancy appeared in two more novels. This is also the first novel using the Pike pseudonym.
CINDERELLA LIBERTY.
New York, Evanston, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, Publishers:, [1973]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. A novel in which a sailor in the hospital becomes nonexistent as his records are lost, he is granted Cinderella liberty, he has to return to the hospital by midnight. While out he meets a bargirl and her children which changes his life. Filmed in 1973 with James Caan and Marsh Mason.
SHIP OF FOOLS.
Boston, Toronto: An Atlantic Monthly Press Book Little, Brown and Company, [1962]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Porter's best known work. "The voyage of the Vera is a pilgrims' progress without a happy ending, indeed with no ending at all ... Though, as with life itself, its ends are not neatly tied up, her novel is satisfying in its richness, its intelligence, its depth of comic and tragic sensibility." - Clifton Fadiman. Basis for the 1965 Oscar-winning film directed by Stanley Kramer.
THE PRESTIGE.
London, Sydney, New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Toronto: Touchstone, [1995]. Octavo, boards. First edition. Signed on the title page by Priest. Winner of the 1996 World Fantasy Award for best novel. Filmed in 2006 by Christopher Nolan with Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo and Scarlett Johansson.