A substantially revised working manuscript of Bill Pronzini’s sixth Nameless Detective novel, published by St. Martin’s Press in 1980. 233 pages, typed on rectos only, with handwritten corrections throughout; preserved in transparent sleeves in a binder, housed in a custom blue cloth clamshell box measuring approximately 11 × 13 inches. Red leather spine labels lettered in gilt identify the work as the “Author’s Original Corrected Typescript” and supply the place and date, “San Francisco 1979/80.” Accompanied by a typed statement on Pronzini’s personal stationery, signed and with his printed name, certifying the typescript as the “rough manuscript copy” of his novel.
Pronzini’s Nameless Detective brought a distinctly personal sensibility to the American private-eye tradition: a San Francisco investigator whose attachment to pulp fiction accompanies an increasingly complex emotional life. A prolific novelist, short-story writer, anthologist, and historian of the genre, Pronzini helped both sustain and interpret the mystery tradition. His career was recognized by the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master award in 2008.
The manuscript presents the novel in active revision. Handwritten cancellations, substitutions, interlinear additions, and extended replacement passages record changes in phrasing and narrative detail, with substantive corrections continuing into the concluding pages. The author’s accompanying certification establishes a direct connection between these working papers and the published novel, while the custom housing gives the manuscript a handsome, coherent presentation.
Light bumping and rubbing to extremities of the clamshell box with a small loss to the leather at the spine tail. Moderate damp-stain to the title page; creasing to the signed certification. Otherwise very good. A substantial document of Pronzini’s working practice from the early years of his defining detective series.
A substantially revised working manuscript of Bill Pronzini’s sixth Nameless Detective novel, published by St. Martin’s Press in 1980. 233 pages, typed on rectos only, with handwritten corrections throughout; preserved in transparent sleeves in a binder, housed in a custom blue cloth clamshell box measuring approximately 11 × 13 inches. Red leather spine labels lettered in gilt identify the work as the “Author’s Original Corrected Typescript” and supply the place and date, “San Francisco 1979/80.” Accompanied by a typed statement on Pronzini’s personal stationery, signed and with his printed name, certifying the typescript as the “rough manuscript copy” of his novel.
Pronzini’s Nameless Detective brought a distinctly personal sensibility to the American private-eye tradition: a San Francisco investigator whose attachment to pulp fiction accompanies an increasingly complex emotional life. A prolific novelist, short-story writer, anthologist, and historian of the genre, Pronzini helped both sustain and interpret the mystery tradition. His career was recognized by the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Master award in 2008.
The manuscript presents the novel in active revision. Handwritten cancellations, substitutions, interlinear additions, and extended replacement passages record changes in phrasing and narrative detail, with substantive corrections continuing into the concluding pages. The author’s accompanying certification establishes a direct connection between these working papers and the published novel, while the custom housing gives the manuscript a handsome, coherent presentation.
Light bumping and rubbing to extremities of the clamshell box with a small loss to the leather at the spine tail. Moderate damp-stain to the title page; creasing to the signed certification. Otherwise very good. A substantial document of Pronzini’s working practice from the early years of his defining detective series.
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