Room to Swing

by Ed Lacy 

First edition.  New York:  Harper & Brothers, 1957  

Hardback is overall in VERY GOOD condition, with a GOOD DJ under Mylar.

• Red covers are mostly clean, with gray cloth at spine and title in black. 
• Boards show some wear at periphery, edgewear.  Corners are scuffed, with exposed board.  See photos.
• Spine has black text and is bright, a little scuffed, with frayed, softened ends.  See photos.
• Binding is strong.  
• Pastedowns and feps have some light staining, ink stamps on each pastedown. 
• Interior exhibits some smudges, light edgewear, a couple corner creases.  Inside pages are free of writing and intentional marks.
• Text block edges have untrimmed fore edges.  See photos.  
• Pictorial DJ is nicely preserved behind Mylar and is backed with archival paper.
• DJ has some edgewear, chipped corners, closed tears and tiny chips along head edge, bumping and closed tears along foot edge, some soiling to back, chipping at head and foot of spine strip.  See photos. 
• PS2026.0507

175 pages. 5.5 x 8 inches

Stated First Edition.  Publisher's red boards with gray one-quarter cloth and black title at spine.  Unclipped pictorial dust jacket promoting this title as "A Harper Detective Novel."  Boards show some rubbing at edges with loss of color.  Jacket, with wear at edges, is preserved behind archival Mylar.  Black ink stamp "IBM Corporation" inside each cover; interior is otherwise unmarked.  Condition is overall Very Good with a Good dust jacket.  Uncommon First Edition, in the unclipped Jacket. 

Suspense novel about black private eye Toussaint Moore in dicey circumstances as he investigates in Southern Ohio and Kentucky.  From the front dustjacket flap: "If you're a Negro private eye from up North, you find it tricky sledding in a small Ohio town, close to the Kentucky border."

The author Ed Lacy (1911-1968), born Leonard S. Zinberg, was an American writer of crime and detective fiction.  Lacy, who was Jewish American, is credited with creating "the first credible African American PI" character in fiction, Toussaint "Touie" Marcus Moore.  A prolific writer, Len Zinberg published 28 novels, printed in some 28 million copies (including translations into a dozen languages) by the time of his death.  In the mid-1950's Zinberg published with Harper, during which period his work was received with great acclaim, including winning the 1958 Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Room to Swing.

Jacket design by Bill Hughes.   

Please see photos. More photos available upon request.

International first class shipping includes a handling charge to cover insurance.

Domestic orders over $250 include a handling charge to cover signature confirmation.

#panoplybooks #rarebooks #bookboutique #collectiblebooks #antiquebooks #vintagebooks #bookstore

We invite you to view our Shipping & Returns policies, or to contact us with any questions.