First printing of the pivotal true-crime book — signed by Capote, and with the ownership signature of Dorothy B. Hughes, author of the inverted noir masterpiece, IN A LONELY PLACE (1947).
Near fine in near-fine jacket.
Price: $3,500.00
"It seemed to me that journalism, reportage, could be forced to yield a serious new art form: the 'nonfiction novel,' as I thought of it [...] on the whole, journalism is the most underestimated, the least explored of literary mediums." – Capote interviewed by George Plimpton, 1966
Capote wrote IN COLD BLOOD in search of a form that married non-fiction with elements of literary fiction. He researched it in Kansas with childhood friend Harper Lee, whose way with people opened doors in the tense atmosphere. ("She is a gifted woman, courageous, and with a warmth that instantly kindles most people, however suspicious or dour," Capote told Plimpton in 1966.) Writing IN COLD BLOOD, Capote attempted to understand the minds of killers — a trait that Sarah Weinman ascribes to Hughes in the novel IN A LONELY PLACE nearly twenty years before: "She was describing the psyche and actions of a serial killer years before the term existed." A jaw-droppingly great association copy, linking the two writers in the 20th century who most transformed how we write about murder.
Read more: Plimpton, "The Story Behind a Nonfiction Novel," in the New York Times, 16 January 1966; Weinman, "On the World's Finest Female Noir Writer, Dorothy B. Hughes," in the Los Angeles Review of Books, 12 August 2012.
New York: Random House, (1965). 8.25'' x 5.5''. Original dark red cloth, gilt-lettered front board, silver- and gilt-lettered spine. In original unclipped ($5.95) typographic dust jacket designed by S. Neil Fujita. Dark red endpapers, black topstain, fore-edge machine deckle. [10], 343, [1] pages. Ink ownership signature "Dorothy B. Hughes" in blue ink on front flyleaf. Signed by Capote in black ink on half title. A few unobtrusive spots to cloth; jacket toned, as usually found, with only light rubbing to spine extremities.
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