Books

First edition, first printing, the author's own copy, later presented to his secretary's husband, inscribed on the front free endpaper, "Joe Messick, from Raymond Chandler, La Jolla. Oct 3, 1950". The same page has Chandler's ink stamp, "Raymond Chandler, 6005 Camino de la Costa, La Jolla, Calif.", and traces of his own erased ownership inscription. Messick was the husband of Juanita Messick (1909-1986), Chandler's secretary and amanuensis, who typed up his novel The Long Goodbye. "When he first settled in La Jolla, Chandler felt ridiculous having a private secretary... After trying several others, he engaged Mrs Juanita Messick who worked for him for about four years starting in 1950. Her presence was a stabilizing influence. Chandler converted two of the three bedrooms into the work section of the house... Screenplays and letters he was willing to dictate, but his own fiction was different... When at last he had a book he could stand by, he would give his stack of yellow half-leaves to Mrs Messick to be retyped on full sheets" (McShane, pp. 188-91). Following his wife Cissy's death in 1954, Chandler fell into depression, and Juanita prevented three of his subsequent suicide attempts. Octavo. Original pink cloth, spine and front cover lettered in blue, publisher's device to rear cover in blue, top edge blue. With dust jacket. Housed in a custom red cloth folding box. Binding lightly rubbed and bumped, contents slightly toned but clean; unclipped jacket toned, especially on spine, just a few nicks and short closed tears to extremities: a very good copy in very good jacket. Bruccoli A2.1.a. Frank McShane, The Life of Raymond Chandler, 1986.

Farewell, My Lovely is a detective novel by Raymond Chandler, featuring his iconic private eye Philip Marlowe. First published in 1940, it is Chandler's second novel.