Title: Erik Dorn
Author: Ben Hecht - Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist and novelist. He received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some seventy films. He wrote thirty-five books and created some of the most entertaining screenplays and plays in America. "The Dictionary of Literary Biography - American Screenwriters" calls him "one of the most successful screenwriters in the history of motion pictures." At the age of 16, Hecht ran away to Chicago, where in his own words he "haunted streets, whorehouses, police stations, courtrooms, theater stages, jails, saloons, slums, madhouses, fires, murders, riots, banquet halls, and bookshops." In the 1910s and early 20s, Hecht became a noted journalist, foreign correspondent, and literary figure.

A prolific writer, Hecht received the first Academy Award for Original Screenplay, for "Underworld" (1927). Many of the screenplays he worked on are now considered classics. He also provided story ideas for such films as "Stagecoach" (1939). Film historian Richard Corliss called him "the Hollywood screenwriter," someone who "personified Hollywood itself." In 1940, he wrote, produced, and directed, "Angels Over Broadway," which was nominated for Best Screenplay. In total, six of his movie screenplays were nominated for Academy Awards, with two winning.

He became an active Zionist shortly before the Holocaust began in Germany, and wrote articles and plays about the plight of European Jews, such as, "We Will Never Die" in 1943 and "A Flag is Born" in 1946. Of his seventy to ninety screenplays, he wrote many anonymously to avoid the British boycott of his work in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The boycott was a response to Hecht's active support of paramilitary action against British forces in Palestine and sabotaging British property there, during which time a supply ship to Palestine was named the S. S. Ben Hecht.

According to his autobiography, he never spent more than eight weeks on a script. In 1983, 19 years after his death, Ben Hecht was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. (Information courtesy of Wikipedia)

Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
City: New York
Year: 1921
Printing Information: Signed Edition
Binding Style: Hardcover
Pagination: 409 pages plus 4 pages of publisher's advertisements
Width: 5.5" Height: 7.75"
Book Details:
Condition / Notes: This is a scarce author-signed first edition of this popular novel. The inscription on the front flyleaf reads "To my friend / Ray Gobel / this fornicator's manual / is inscribed / Ben Hecht." The date of December 17, 1921 appears written in the upper right corner.

This antique volume is bound in brown cloth, with stamped orange lettering to the spine and front cover. The book shows moderate external wear, with darkening to the spine and very small white spots near the head of the spine. The binding is sound. The pages exhibit very sporadic light foxing and occasional pencil markings in the margins.

For lots which include only books, our shipping charge applies to any address within the fifty United States. For lots which are not books, the stated shipping cost in this listing will apply only to addresses within the continental 48 states. Within those parameters, the shipping cost for this lot will be: $4.50

Accepted Forms of Payment:

Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Paypal, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

We take care to pack well, and ship in a timely fashion. Buyer pays for stated shipping within the United States, international customers please contact us for a shipping quote. We offer reduced shipping for winners of multiple lots, as follows: buyer pays full shipping amount of the won lot that bears the highest shipping charge, and receives a 30% discount on the stated shipping amount for all other won lots. For example, a winner of three lots with stated shipping charges of $4.50, $6.50 and $8.00 will pay $15.70 rather than the full $19.00. All books and other media ship via USPS Media Mail. Typical delivery time within the continental U.S. is 5-10 days. If your order is time sensitive, please contact us for a Priority Mail upgrade. Insurance is available and recommended (please note that by declining insurance, you assume the risk of loss or damage in transit) on shipped packages at a flat rate of $1.00 per $100.00 of coverage for domestic shipments and $2.00 per $100.00 of coverage for all international shipments (please let us know if you are adding insurance to your total). All shipments with a total value of $200.00 or greater, as well as all packages being shipped outside the United States, will require mandatory insurance coverage and that charge will be added to the shipping amount on the invoices.

by National Book Auctions
May 31, 2015 12:00 PM EDT
2085 Dryden Rd. (Route 13)
Freeville, NY, US 13068

National Book Auctions

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $59 $5
$60 $149 $10
$150 $499 $25
$500 $1,499 $50
$1,500 $2,999 $100
$3,000 $9,999 $250
$10,000 $24,999 $500
$25,000 $49,999 $1,000
$50,000 + $2,500