John Buchan — The Thirty-Nine Steps

Edinburgh and London, William Blackwood and Sons, 1915 . First edition. Cloth. The first edition, first impression of John Buchan's celebrated espionage thriller, the first of his Richard Hannay novels. The first edition, first impression.Originally serialised in Blackwood's Magazine, 'The Thirty Nine Steps' is the first of five novels featuring Buchan's hero Richard Hannay. 'The Thirty-Nine Steps' by John Buchan is a suspenseful novel which follows the stiff-upper-lipped Hannay as he attempts to evade the same fate as a man called Scudder, who is murdered in his flat. This work is one of the earliest examples of the "man-on-the-run" trope which became a standard feature of many thrillers since.In 1935 Alfred Hitchcock directed an adaptation of the novel, starring Friedrich Robert Donat. Hitchcock's adaptation was deemed a "masterpiece" by Orson Welles and was rated the fourth best British film of the twentieth century by British Film Institute in 1999. With advertisement leaf to the rear.  In a facsimile dust wrapper.With the inscription of Gaye Robinson to the front free endpaper. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Two ink marks to rear board. Back strip lightly age toned, with light rubbing to back strip head and tail. Rear joint starting, with board somewhat tender. Front hinge strained, with board tenderly held. Inscription to front free endpaper. In an excellent facsimile dust wrapper. Internally, generally firmly bound. Pages age toned to perimeters, with only the odd spot. Good . Ill.: None. Good .