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Cover Art: 

Blood Money Dell #53 (1944) 
Front: Gerald Gregg 
Map Back: Ruth Belew

Blood Money Dell #486 (1951) 
Front: Robert Stanley [not illustrated]

Publishing History: 

First edition: $106,000 Blood Money Bestseller Mystery No. B40 (1943). 

Second edition: Blood Money, Tower Books (1943) first printing. 

Second edition: Blood Money, Tower Books (1944) second printing. 

Third edition: Blood Money, Dell #53 (1944) first printing 

Third edition: Blood Money, Dell #486 (1951) second printing. 

Fourth edition: The Big Knock-Over, Jonathan Press Mystery J. 36 (1948).

 
 
Cover Art: 

The Adventures of Sam Spade and Other Stories 
Tower Books T334 (1945)
Jacket design by Leo Manso.
[The Tower Books editions of the Hammett story collections are the only hardback editions; the Bestseller, Mercury and Dell editions are all softcover editions.  This title is the only Tower edition in my collection.]

A Man Called Spade Dell #90 (1945) 
Front: Gerald Gregg [not illustrated] 
Map Back: Ruth Belew.

A Man Called Spade Dell #411 (1950) 
Front: Robert Stanley 
Map Back: Ruth Belew 


[Lyles notes that Dell #411 reuses the map back from #90.

The model for Sam Spade is the artist himself, Robert Stanley.  The model for the woman at the bottom of the stairs is his wife, Rhoda Stanley (see her on the cover of Creeping Siamese).  The Stanleys can be seen on many Dell covers]..

Publishing History: 

First edition: The Adventures of Sam Spade and Other Stories, Bestseller Mystery No. B50 (1944) first printing. 

First edition: They Can Only Hang You Once and Other Stories, A Mercury Mystery (1949) second printing. 

Second edition: The Adventures of Sam Spade and Other Stories, Tower Books (1945). 

Third edition: A Man Called Spade and Other Stories, Dell #90 (1945) [omits two stories: 'Nightshade' and 'The Judge Laughed Last'] first printing. 

Third edition: Dell #411 (1950) second printing first state 

Third edition: Dell #452 (1950) second printing second state. 

Fourth edition: Jonathan Press Mystery J. 36 (1948).

Originally entitled The Adventures of Sam Spade (1st edition: Spivak, 1944) the third edition, illustrated above (Dell #411) changes the title and loses two stories: 'Nightshade' and 'The Judge Laughed Last'.  Dell's first printing of this collection was issued in 1945 (Dell #90).  A second printing of the third edition was issued in 1950 (Dell #411), and a second state (Dell #452).  The artwork for the front cover illustrated here is by Robert Stanley who is also the model for Spade (Stanley's wife, Rhoda, is the model for the woman).
 
Cover Art: 

The Continental Op Dell #129 (1946) 
Front: Gerald Gregg 
Map Back: Ruth Belew

Publishing History: 

First edition: Bestseller Mystery No. B62 (1945). 

Second edition: Dell #129 (1946). 

Third edition: Jonathan Press J. 40 (1949).

 
 
Cover Art: 

The Return of the Continental Op Dell #154 (1947) 
Front: Gerald Gregg
Map Back: Ruth Belew

Publishing History: 

First edition: Jonathan Press J.17  (1945). 

Second edition: Dell #154 (1947). 

 
Cover Art: 

Hammett Homicides Dell #223 (1948) 
Front: Gerald Gregg 
Map Back: Ruth Belew

Publishing History: 

First edition: Bestseller Mystery  B81 (1946). 

Second edition: Dell #223 (1948).

 
 
Cover Art

Dead Yellow Women Dell #308 (1949) 
Front: Gerald Gregg
Map Back: Ruth Belew
[Lyles notes that the same cover and map back were used on the second printing (ie Dell #421)].
 

Publishing History: 

First edition: A Jonathan Press Mystery No. J29 (1947). 

Second edition: Dell #308 (1949) first printing. 

Second edition: Dell #421 (1950) second printing.

 
Cover Art: 

Nightmare Town Dell #379 (1950) 
Front: Robert Stanley 
Map Back: Ruth Belew
[Lyles notes that interior illustration is by Lester Elliot]
 

Publishing History: 

First edition: Mercury Mystery No.120 (1948). 

Second edition: Dell #379 (1950). 

 
 
Cover Art: 

The Creeping Siamese Dell #538 (1951). 
Front: Robert Stanley 
Map Back: Ruth Belew.
[The model is Rhoda Stanley; Roberts Stanley's wife.  See her on the cover of A Man Called Spade

Publishing History: 

First edition: Jonathan Press Mystery J48 (1950). 

Second edition: Dell #538 (1951). 

 
 
Sources:

Richard Layman, Dashiell Hammett: A Descriptive Bibliography (Pittsburgh, PA., 1979).

Geoffrey O'Brien, Hardboiled America: Lurid paperbacks and the Masters of Noir, revised edition (NY, 1997).

William Lyles, 'Dashiell Hammett in the Dell Mapbacks', Paperback Quarterly vol 4 no. 3 (1981) pp. 15-23.

Piet Schreuders, The Book of Paperbacks: A Visual History of the Paperback, translated by Josh Pachter (London, 1981).
 

See also:

Hardboiled Maryland: An Online Exhibition


Links:

Top of this page        Hammett paperback novels         The Maltese Falcon FAQ      The Big House of Knowledge

This page compiled by EJM Duggan, 1999.