Description
The first edition of An Ear To The Ground by James Hadley Chase, inscribed to his friend, Merrill Panitt, the founder of TV Guide.
Octavo, 191pp. Publisher’s black hardcover, title printed on spine. The first issue, with “First Published in Great Britain” statement on the copyright page. Light wear to covers, solid text block. In the publisher’s dust jacket, retail price on the front flap, shelf wear to covers, chipping along edges, wear to spine, vibrant illustrations.
Signed on the front free endpaper: “For Merrill / as ever / James Hadley Chase. 1968.”
From the personal library of Merrill Panitt (1918-1994), the founder and editorial director of TV Guide. During World War II, Panitt served on the staff of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, where he came to the attention of Walter Annenberg, the publisher of the The Philadelphia Inquirer. Panitt joined The Inquirer in 1945 and worked with Annenberg to found TV Guide in 1953. He later become the director of Triangle Publications, publisher of TV Guide, Seventeen Magazine, and many more.
