GRIFF – BRITISH PULP FICTION AT
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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1949]. First edition. “Here, in a tale of romance in the underworld of New York, famous American ace crime reporter ‘Griff’ makes his début to British readers and tears aside the veil that cloaks the activities of the callous racketeers who batten on human frailties”. McKeag launches the highly successful “Griff” pseudonym, later used by a variety of other authors beside himself. Reporter Bill Truscott knows at once that the sight of high-stepper Susette Delaine sitting alone at the Regency Bar of the Ritz-Deauville can only mean trouble.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – H. W. Perl – Hyman Woolf Perlzweig (1897-1952) – and an enigmatic blonde; spine slightly worn and darkened; a little worn, creased, marked, nicked and chipped; ink markings to front wrapper; staples rusted; a few small internal flaws, but a reasonable copy of major introduction to the genre – the first of the “Griff” novels. Just a single copy (British Library) traced in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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London : Modern Fiction, [1949]. First edition. “When Jinx Engels got a glim of the blonde in the mink coat in the foyer of the Blue Orchid he stopped dead on the sidewalk and took another gander through the plate-glass swing doors. It was Marilou all right. Then his grey matter side-stepped and took an eight-year flash-back. He remembered her when last he had seen her ...”. McKeag with a lively early title in the “Griff” series.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 159,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by John Pollack; some light wear; a few nicks; some inked marking to front wrapper; rear wrapper a little nicked and frayed, but still overall a very good copy. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£75

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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1950]. First edition. Bullets, business and be-pop – better dead than dope-crazed – the “Griff” byline was first used by Ernest McKeag (1896-1974) in 1948, but became the most successful of the Modern Fiction pulp brand-names under various later authors. Lightning pace, crisp dialogue, casual violence, and seedy and salacious faux American settings are the common denominators. By 1950 most of the “Griff” titles, of which this is perhaps the most celebrated, were being written by the journalist, compiler of reference works and occasional Dickens scholar, Frank Dubrez Fawcett (1891-1968) and this is almost certainly his work.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 112pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – redhead takes an injection in her thigh from corrupt brunette – a pair of man’s shoes suggestively by the couch; mild wear to tips; repaired splits to lower joint and spine; small initial on upper cover; crease to lower wrapper; staples a touch rusted; text a little tanned, but the wrappers and artwork unusually clean and fresh. Only the British Library copy located in major libraries worldwide.

SOLD

London : Modern Fiction (London), [1951]. First edition. “I’m surprised you didn’t join the police force,” she said. I’d squatted on that springy, tubular metal chair she’d indicated. “I was always bottom of my class. But that ain’t low enough for the I.Q. the dicks insist on. And I couldn’t match up to their high standard of dishonesty and corruption”. Rich private eye for kicks Don Danby takes on an insurance case.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; some light wear and slight creasing; a few marks to rear wrapper; staples rusted, but generally a very good copy of a scarce title. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£50

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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1952]. First edition. “If a guy is a private eye, which is the other word for private detective or inquiry agent, he oughta keep his hands off his lady clients, if any. Tonio Folari didn’t do that” – and Maria Speratta is quick to teach him a lesson. “You just can’t leave off, once you start. You go hurrying, thirsty. You lose sleep. You miss your love-date. But you get forgiven when you say: ‘I’ve been reading Crooked Coffins’. Yes, folks – this book does that to you – and everybody”.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a stylish design by Leonard Potts; spine chipped in places; wrappers rubbed, nicked and creased; rear wrapper and final few leaves a little torn, without loss; staples rusted; some light spotting and browning, but a serviceable copy of an uncommon title. An enthusiastic “yes” inscribed on half-title. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£50

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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1952]. First edition. “They say that the Devil was in cahoots with Uncle Sam at the time when Pittsburg got built. I’d not know, but I’m not denying that the gory, upleaping flames of the great blast furnaces, and writhing, unearthly-yellow glows of the steel ovens look mighty like it”. Well-off private eye Don Danby has a body fall on him soon after he arrives.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 128pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a striking design of green-eyed redhead above a shoot-out; spine a little chipped; wrappers rubbed and a little creased; but a good and serviceable copy of an uncommon title. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1952]. First edition. Man hits an abandoned parked car on his way to Chicago – it’s riddled with bullets and a dead blonde falls out. Then a spray gun is planted in his car.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 110,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a typical Leonard Potts design; slightly chipped; wrappers a little worn and frayed; a few minor internal flaws, but a good and serviceable copy. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1953]. First edition. “Master-spies, gunhawks, mobsters, hoods, all the unsavoury characters of the underworld ... A young scientist is kidnapped. He carries badly wanted secrets in his brain ... the secrets of that most despicable of all forms of death ... germ warfare!”. Mark Freeman of the FBI is on the case. The “Griff” house name here being used by David Boyce.
Crown 8vo (18cm). 127,[i]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers in a design by Leonard Potts (1902-1978) – redhead dragged into gunfight; a little worn and chipped; price inked on upper wrapper; staples rusted; text tanned; a few slight marks; a reasonable copy of an elusive and fragile title. Only the British Library copy located in any of the major libraries worldwide.

£40

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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1953]. First edition. Con-men, pimps, gamblers, gun-men and their women gather in a bar in San Francisco and talk of an escape from Alcatraz. The “Griff” house-name was used by at least half a dozen authors, but the present title is attributed to William Simpson Newton.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 126,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers – a design by Leonard Potts – redhead, fat man, man in a hat starts shooting; some minor wear; front wrapper creased; with some slight creasing elsewhere; text a little tanned in places, but otherwise a nice copy. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£50

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London : Modern Fiction (London), [1953]. First edition. “The chronicle of three days of terror in the life of the District Attorney’s Chief Investigator, Shaun O’Riordan. Murder gone mad aptly describes that searing melodrama of the law-and-order brigade’s fight against one of the most indecent corruptions that ever polluted a fair city ... In the process he met some people of very curious characteristics, including several very lovely ladies”.
Crown 8vo (19cm). 126,[ii]pp. Original pictorial stapled wrappers; some light wear; colour touched up at foot; staples rusted; a few leaves printed a little faintly, but otherwise a very good copy. Just a single copy (British Library) located in major libraries worldwide.

£40

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