Description
EXTRAORDINARY DEDICATION COPY OF THE CASE OF THE ONE-EYED WITNESS, WARMLY INSCRIBED BY ERLE STANLEY GARDNER TO FORENSIC CRIME DETECTION EXPERT DR. ROBERT P. BRITTAIN, CERTIFIED BY THE MANUFACTURER AS THE FIRST COPY OFF THE PRESS
GARDNER, Erle Stanley. The Case of the One-Eyed Witness. New York: William Morrow, (1950). Octavo, original black paper boards, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom three-quarter morocco clamshell box.
First edition, dedication copy and the first copy to be printed, inscribed to forensic crime detection expert Dr. Robert P. Brittain, the subject of Gardner’s three-page dedicatory foreword to the novel: “To Rob with a handclasp from the U.S.A. and congratulations on your contributions to legal medicine. Your friend and student, Erle. Erle Stanley Gardner. October 9 1950.” This copy also bears an additional signed and stamped handwritten note by the manufacturer certifying that it was the first volume off the press of the first edition.
“In Perry Mason, the combative defense attorney who manipulates the legal system to vindicate the innocent, Gardner created one of the most widely recognized figures in American literature? Mason came to embody the ideal of the American lawyer” (ANB). This is number 36 of 86 books in the series. The recipient of this copy, Dr. Robert P. Brittain, was also the person to whom this work was dedicated. Gardner opted to introduce him to readers in a lengthy foreword that described how Gardner first encountered him at an exclusive conference on scientific crime detection at Harvard Medical School. There, Dr. Brittain, a barrister and medical doctor with expertise in criminal forensics, captivated the attendees with his extensive knowledge in the field and his engaging teaching style. When Gardner had a particularly vexing case, he again consulted Brittain. In recognition of Brittain’s professional efforts and those of others in his field, Gardner dedicated this work to Brittain in the name of all devoted forensic professionals and specially inscribed this, the first copy off the presses, to Brittain.
Book about-fine, dust jacket near-fine with only light rubbing to extremities. A unique and most desirable dedication copy, wonderfully inscribed by Earl Stanley Gardner.
