Description
Signed first edition of Ben Hecht’s A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago, in scarce dust jacket.
Octavo, [289pp]. Illustrated boards, title in yellow on spine. Stated “Published November, 1922” on copyright page with no additional printings mentioned. Endpapers illustrated in yellow and black with red toning to pastedowns. Top edge dyed black. Solid binding, light toning to pages with no tears or notations. Slight bow to boards, spine ends bumped and rubbed, light shelf wear along bottom edge of boards, light soiling to covers. In publisher’s original dust jacket, retail price of $2.50 on front flap, corners of flaps clipped, toning to spine, spine rubbed, light wear along edges of spine and flap folds, soiling to covers. Chipping and tears along top/bottom edges, some loss to spine ends and corners. Signed by the author on verso of title page: “Ben Hecht / Dec 1922.” A bright example.
Ben Hecht (1894-1964) was an American journalist, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. A Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago is from his early career as a journalist, being a collection of columns he wrote for the Chicago Daily News from 1921-1922. In the late 1920s, Hecht and Charles MacArthur wrote the Broadway hit The Front Page, which was later adapted into a film. Moving to Hollywood, Hecht became a successful screenwriter, working on films like Scarface (1932), Nothing Sacred (1937), Gunga Din (1939) and Notorious (1945). Six of his screenplays were nominated for Academy Awards, with two of them winning for Best Story, Underworld (1927) and The Scoundrel (1935).
