The Thirty-Nine Steps.

JOHN BUCHAN

Publication: William Blackwood and Sons, 1915, Edinburgh and London

First edition. 12mo. Blue cloth, titles in black on the front cover and spine, 253 pp. Richard Hannay finds at his door a person he recognizes as the occupant of the upstairs apartment. The person is an American and tells Hannay that they fear for their life, so have faked their own death. Several days later, the person is murdered in Hannay's apartment. Hannay immediately recognizes that he is the next victim and flees to the wilds of Scotland until he can clear his name. The police want him for the murder of an American agent, and the spies want to prevent him from delivering vital information to British authorities. All the while World War I looms in the background. In 1935, Alfred Hitchcock directed the film that starred Robert Donat as Richard Hannay, with Madeline Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, and Peggy Ashcroft. Again in 1960, Ralph Thomas directed the film that starred Kenneth Moore as Richard Hannay, with Taina Elg, Brenda de Banzie, Barry Jones, and Reginald Beckwith. A Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone. Light wear to the spine ends, spine panel a bit darkened, all page edges are uniformly tanned, former owner's inked name at top of front free fly leaf else a very good copy. One of the hallmarks of the espionage genre and a most presentable copy.