Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Ambler, Eric. The Mask of Dimitrios. Hodder and Stoughton Limited, London, 1939.
Price: US$600.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: First edition. 320 pp. Red cloth with black lettering on spine; lacking the dust jacket. Good, with spine cloth faded, a few small stains and light fraying to cloth, slight cock to spine. Light pencil gift inscription to fep "In commemoration of the Great War of 1939." Light foxing to edges and endpapers. The basis of a 1944 film noir and a classic of espionage literature known as A Coffin for Dimitrios in the US; uncommon as the publisher's warehouse was bombed by the Nazis in WWII.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Ambler, Eric. The Mask of Dimitrios. Hodder and Stoughton Limited, London, 1939.
Price: US$700.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: First edition. 320pp. Red cloth with gilt spine lettering. Good+ condition, sans jacket. Cloth a bit stained with wear spot on back board, spine darkened, slight lean, previous owner's bookplate on paste down, small stain on fore edge, internally clean and fairly bright. The basis of a 1944 film noir and a classic of espionage literature known as A Coffin for Dimitrios in the US; uncommon as the publisher's warehouse was bombed by the nazis in WWII.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
Ambler, Eric. THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS. Hodder and Stoughton Limited [1939], London, 1939.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-319 [320]. cloth. Published in the U.K. as The Mask of Dimitrios. A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone volume. Made into a 1944 film featuring Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, screenplay credit to Frank Gruber. A very good copy, two small bookstore stickers to front paste-down, previous owner has penciled in the U. S. title of A Coffin For Dimitrios on the title page, text paper mildy tanned, cloth shows some mild spotting and soiling, spine shows some age darkening. No dust jacket. (11715)
Seller: John W. Knott, Jr, Bookseller, ABAA/ILAB, Laurel, MD, U.S.A.
AMBLER, Eric. The Mask Of Dimitrios. Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1939.
Price: US$826.10 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: A very good, clean, tight copy of Eric Ambler's classic thriller and a Haycraft-Queen cornerstone title. Lacks the dustwrapper.Red cloth, some fading to the backstrip and top edges a little dusty, else no blemishes. A scarce edition because of the wartime destruction of the publisher's London warehouse. This copy is fresh to the market in 2020.
Seller: MANOR COLLECTABLES, WOODHALL SPA, LINCS, United Kingdom
Ambler, Eric. The Mask of Dimitrios. Hodder and Stoughton Limited, London, 1939.
Price: US$850.00 + shipping
Description: First edition. 320 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. One of Ambler's most celebrated novels and the basis for the 1944 film, A Coffin for Dimitrios, starring Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet, and Zachary Scott. Rare. Red cloth. Slightly cocked, else Near Fine. Previous owner's signature
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Ambler, Eric. The Mask of Dimitrios. London; Hodder & Stoughton; /1944, 1939.
Price: US$901.78 + shipping
Description: First edition, first printing (1939). The book is very good reading crease to the spine and some liquid spillage stains on the red boards. Lacks dustjacket. True first printings are very scarce as many were destroyed by bombing during World War Two. The book is sold with a first edition, sixth printing (September 1944) copy. The book is near fine with reading crease to the spine. The dustjacket is very good with wear and tear to most corners. This edition was printed to tie in with the film of the same name
Seller: timkcbooks (Member of Booksellers Association), Penzance, United Kingdom
Eric Ambler. The Mask of Dimitrios. Hodder And Stoughton, London, 1939.
Price: US$975.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Hodder and Stoughton Limited [1939]., London, 1939. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-319 [320], rare in first edition, only a handful of copies exist in dj, this copy was custom bound in full black crushed Levant morocco by Alan Grace of Grace Bindery once of Surrey UK, later St. Simons Island Georgia and is signed by Eric Ambler, on a note tipped onto the title page. This is a chilling and compellilng mystery so well written, it shall capitvate its reader. Ambler like Chandler was a genius of the genre Most copies of this UK edition were lost when Nazi bombs destroyed the Hodder & Stoughton warehouse. Published later in the U.S. as A COFFIN FOR DIMITRIOS. Basis for the 1944 film featuring Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre;and Faye Emerson and Zachary Scott with a screenplay credited to Frank Gruber. A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone. Pronzini and Muller, 1001 Midnights, pp. 18-9. To this day, the 1944 film is a noir classic, with Peter Lorre a mystery and crime novelist on the trail of the mysterious Dimitrios. Sydney Greenstreet is fabulous as well.
Seller: Hirschfeld Galleries, Saint Louis, MO, U.S.A.
Eric Ambler. A Coffin for Dimitrios. Knopf, 1939.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First USA Edition/First Printing. Hardcover. Very good book in a very good unclipped dust jacket. The beige cloth book has a red zigzag pattern to the front board and spine and red top stain. Book has a slight lean with softening to the spine ends, spotting to the foredge and offsetting to the end papers. Clean of any internal markings. The jacket is priced at $2.00 with wear and nicks to the edges. Some touch up restoration to the interior of the jacket with old tape along the inside edges. First published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton, earlier the same year under the title "The Mask of Dimitrios". A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone novel.
Seller: MDS BOOKS, Mississauga, ON, Canada
AMBLER, Eric (1909-1998). The Mask Of Dimitrios. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939, 1939.
Price: US$1127.23 + shipping
Description: FIRST EDITION. A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone novel. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.320. Publisher's red cloth with gilt titles to spine. Internally very clean with no ownership marks, bookplates or inscriptions. Covers are fresh but for a little sunning to spine, a few small marks and the usual tarnish to the gilt. A decent example. An important writer of thrillers, Ambler is a Haycraft-Queen listed novelist and one of a select few writers who have won a CWA award on three seperate occasions. Ian Fleming later acknowledged Ambler's work as a influential factor in the development of Commander James Bond. This title was a direct source book for the novel From Russia With Love (Gilbert, Section L, p.621). Howard Haycraft; Murder For Pleasure. Cooper and Pike; Detective Fiction, see also Haining; Crime Fiction p.201. Gilbert; Ian Fleming The Bibliography.
Seller: Adrian Harrington Ltd, PBFA, ABA, ILAB, Royal Tunbridge Wells, KENT, United Kingdom
Ambler, Eric. A Coffin for Dimitrios. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1939.
Price: US$2450.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: 8vo., 281pp. Beautiful Stated First American Edition of this high-spot in espionage fiction. A Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone title. Published the same year in the UK as "The Mask of Dimitrios" by Hodder & Stoughton. Bound in gray cloth with titles in red on spine and decoration in reed on front board. Square, tight and clean throughout with little or no wear safe a touch of softness to spine ends but quite minor. Clean interior with no toning or foxing. Very well-preserved. Very attractive unclipped classic dust-jacket ($2.00 net), has very mild wear to the spine ends. Fresh and bright with no chipping, creases, tears or the toning that is common with this jacket. Made into the 1944 film starring Zachary Scott, Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet. A gorgeous collectable copy at a very attractive price. (Hubin, p.7; Steinbrunner & Penzler, p. 8-9).
Seller: Brenner's Collectable Books ABAA, IOBA, Manasquan, NJ, U.S.A.
AMBLER, Eric.. The Mask of Dimitrios.. London: Hodder and Stoughton Limited, 1939, 1939.
Price: US$2898.59 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, of this Haycraft-Queen cornerstone in detective fiction, and noted rarity: most of the first edition stock was destroyed during the Blitz, when the Germans bombed the Hodder and Stoughton warehouse. Ambler's novel is "a startling, elegant masterpiece of espionage fiction" (Wall Street Journal). Octavo. Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in terracotta morocco, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, single rule to boards gilt, twin rule to turn-ins gilt, dark green endpapers, gilt edges. A fine copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Eric Ambler. The Mask of Dimitrios (First UK Edition). Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1939.
Price: US$8500.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition. A beautiful copy of the author's most famous book, basis for the 1944 film noir written for the screen by Frank Gruber and starring Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Zachary Scott. Very Good or better in a Fine dust jacket. Slight spine lean, with spine cloth lightly faded and titles and rule a bit rubbed. Jacket is lovely, with some expert restoration along the top and bottom edges. In a custom maroon quarter-leather clamshell box. The Dark Page I: 1940-1949, p. 4.
Seller: Royal Books, Inc., ABAA, Baltimore, MD, U.S.A.
AMBLER ERIC. The Mask of Dimitrios. Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1939.
Price: US$11587.93 + shipping
Description: First UK Edition. SIGNED CARD FROM THE AUTHOR LAID IN. Publisher's red boards with gilt spine lettering. Some foxing to the page block edges otherwise a bright and clean VG+ copy with no fading whatsoever to the boards. The near fine RARE D/W is priced 7/6 net to the boards and has had NO RESTORATION whatsoever. The D/W is very slightly creased and rubbed at the spine tips and to the corners with a beautifully clean back panel. Superb D/W artwork by the legendary "Bip Pares". Quite scarce in D/W as the Hodder & Stoughton warehouse took a direct hit during the blitz. The basis for the 1944 film noir featuring Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre; and Faye Emerson and Zachary Scott with a screenplay credited to Frank Gruber. Haycraft Queen Cornerstone. The collectability of this copy is enhanced by the presence of a hand-written card from the Author laid in. The Card is addressed to Miss [Eileen] Cond whose practice it was to write to the leading authors of the day with a view to getting her books signed. The Card is un-dated (from the late 1930's) and relates to Eric Ambler's first book (Dark Frontier) and concerns the arrangements for getting "Dark Frontier" signed. Scarce with these attributes and an entirely honest, un-restored copy in nice collectable condition. Photographs/scans available upon request.
Seller: James M Pickard, ABA, ILAB, PBFA., LEICESTER, United Kingdom
AMBLER, ERIC. THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS. Hodder & Stoughton Limited, [1939]., London, 1939.
Price: US$18750.00 + shipping
Description: First edition. Signed and inscribed on the title page in ink by the author to fellow mystery writer and journalist Wayne Warga, "Wayne Warga from Eric Ambler. Los Angeles, 25 February 1982. Dear Wayne, This must be the rarest of my first editions. I'm glad to have seen it again. Eric." This copy also has the bookplate of the renown mystery collector, Adrian Homer Goldstone, which is affixed to the front pastedown sheet. Near fine, bright, square copy in dust jacket with light professional restoration by an expert paper conservationist. Housed in a cloth clamshell case with a leather label on the spine and titles stamped in gold gilt. A rare book in the first edition as most copies were lost when Nazi bombs destroyed the Hodder & Stoughton warehouse during World War II. A Haycraft/Queen cornerstone of detective and mystery fiction and the basis of the classic film starring Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. As the most recent former owner of this book, Wayne Warga was the youngest editor at LIFE MAGAZINE at age 25, he reported on John F. Kennedy's race for the Presidency, and went on to cover the Civil Rights movement for the magazine. For many years, Warga was one of the leading writers at the Los Angeles Times where he did in-depth articles and features on writers and people in the arts. Later, he became a mystery novelist, creating three well-received bibliomysteries: "Hardcover," "Fatal Impressions," and "Singapore Transfer," featuring Los Angeles rare book dealer, Jeffrey Dean. A choice item with an impressive provenance.
Seller: BUCKINGHAM BOOKS, ABAA, ILAB, IOBA, GREENCASTLE, PA, U.S.A.