Gem Prairie Informal History Chicago by Herbert Asbury (28 results)

Condition: Good. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.

Hard Cover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Hardback with protected dust-wrapper. 377pp, xix. Frontis. Illus. D/w spine faded, slightly chipped to edges. Gift message to front free end-paper. A decent copy. (a3).

Softcover. xxv, 377, xix pp. Softcover. LCC: 868631 Good condition; on covers: touches of wear on edges, some light soiling and light yellow staining, and previous owner's name on front.

Soft cover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. PHOTO AND VIDEO OF PAGES TAKEN TO SHOW CONDITION PRIOR TO SHIPPING; PHOTOS EMAILED FOR MORE SPECIFICS WHEN REQUESTED; Book.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. A very good copy of the softcover edition. The text is wholly unmarked, pristine, and the binding is bright and fresh in appearance, with no creasing to the spine. A sharp copy.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First printing of the first edition (stated) Illustrated. A very good copy with moderate wear to the covers, age toning to some of the pages and age spotting to the page edges in a very good dust jacket with moderate overall wear and age darkening to the rear panel. BR4.

Paperback. Condition: new. Excellent Condition.Excels in customer satisfaction, prompt replies, and quality checks.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good-. Wear with chipping and open tears to DJ. ; Notation to front flap of a reduced price edition, possibly from a couple of years later than the first edition despite the fact that the copyright page still says 'First Edition.' Story of the sordid world of the Chicago crime scene ; B&W Photographs; 8vo; 377,xix pages.

Condition: Good. Cover/Case has some rubbing and edgewear. Access codes, CDs, slipcovers and other accessories may not be included.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. First Edition. Size: Octavo (standard book size). light fraying and bumps to corners, light shelf wear. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilo. Category: True Crime; Inventory No: 70221.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. First Edition. This is a solid copy in good condition. No dustjacket. Worn corners; spine worn at top and bottom. No names or writing within. From the personal library of western historian Robert K. DeArment and bears his imprint.

Encuadernación de tapa dura. Condition: Aceptable. Sin Sobrecubierta. Ejemplar deslucido.

Paperback.

Original Cloth-backed Boards. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Previous owner's name stamp on inside front cover. No DJ. CL printing. Selected pages may contain some marks. Minor discoloration to pages. Some wear along the edges, tips, and along the spine. Some rubbing wear to covers. Some light scratches to covers. THIS IS A HEAVY ITEM. ALL ORDERS MIGHT REQUIRE ADDITIONAL CHARGE.

STIFF PAPER PRINTED WRAPPERS. Condition: Good. No Jacket. ADVANCE READING COPY. THERE IS A 19 PAGE EASILY SEARCHABLE INDEX. AND A 4 PAGE BIBLIOGRAPHY SOURCE LIST THAT ASBURY USED TO CREATE THIS MASTERPIECE OF CHICAGO'S HISTORY OF VICE AND CRIME. THIS ADVANCE READING COPY WAS ISSUED IN A LIMITED NUMBER TO DISTRIBUTORS AND CRITICS FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND PUBLICITY COMMENTARIES ABOUT THE BOOK. THE COVERS ARE COMPRISED OF PRINTED STIFF PAPER THAT ARE NOT PRESENT ON THE FINAL BOOK'S PRODUCTION . THIS BOOK IS A SCARCE UNCOMMON ADVANCE READING COPY OF HERBERT ASBURY'S CHICAGO CLASSIC ASSEMBLY OF MATERIAL SUCH AS PROSTITUTION NEWSPAPERS THAT CANNOT BE FOUND ANYWHERE ELSE. THE CRIMINAL CHARACTERS PORTRAYED IN THIS SUCCINCT HISTORY INCLUDE INDIVIDUALS SUCH AS H. H. HOLMES, A MASS MURDERER DURING THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, GAMBLER AND CRIME BOSS MIKE McDONALD, PROSTITUTES CARRIE WATSON AND MARY HASTINGS. PROSTITUTION MADAMS ADA AND MINNA EVERLEIGH, THE THREE CAR BANDITS, BIG JIM COLOSIMO AND OF COURSE JOHNNY TORRIO AND AL CAPONE. THERE ARE NOTARIOUS POLITICOS SUCH AS HINKY DINK KENNA AND BATHHOUSE COUGHLIN. THE BOOK EVEN CONTAINS A PRINT OF COUGHLIN'S ROMANTIC AND POETIC SHEET MUSIC , "DEAR MIDNIGHT OF LOVE." CHICAGO IS NAMED AS THE MOST WICKED CITY IN THE WORLD. Size: 5 5/8" X 8 1/2".

First edition. . Hardcover 377 plus xixpp, index at rear. Cloth backed pictorial boards in dust jacket. Bottom edges of boards worn through, text block toned. Jacket with nibbling and loss to folds, chip at head of spine. Very good in good jacket.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. This is a solid copy in very good condition with a very good dustjacket (price-clipped). No names or inscriptions. Light reading/handling wear. Very collectible.

Hardcover. Condition: Very good. Dust Jacket Condition: very good. First Edition. 377p +19p index, octavo, illustrated. A very good copy in a very good dust jacket spine darkened.

8vo. [10], 377, [1], xix, [1] pp. Frontispiece, illustrations (many full page). Quarter-purple cloth over illustrated boards (minor shelfwear, some offsetting from binding glue on endpapers), w/ d.j. (very minor chipping head & foot of spine, edgewear, minor dustsoiling), still VG/VG copy. First edition, stated, of this fascinating history of the Chicago Fire, prostitution, gambling, bootlegging, racketeering, and more.

NY 1940. Photos, 9x5.5", cloth backed pict boards, 377 + index, end papers discolored else good in badly chipped and soiled dw. FIRST EDITION.

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. xix.377pp. . Cloth.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. DJ in archival cover spine sunned chips rubbed tape repair. Stated first edition.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. DJ in archival cover light ware. Stated first edition.

ASBURY, Herbert. Gem of the Prairie: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1940. 1st ed. 8vo. [14], 377, [1], xix (index), [1] pp., frontis., illus. In orig. cloth-back pictorial boards with d/j. Near fine in non-price clipped d/j.

Advance proof copy. The contents of the proof match the published version, as far as we can determine; the blurb on the front cover is the text which features on the published jacket. Asbury was the leading profiler of America's criminal world; this work on Chicago, tracing crime and vice in the city from 1833 to reign of Al Capone, followed his The French Quarter on New Orleans, The Barbary Coast on San Francisco, and The Gangs of New York (loosely the basis for the Martin Scorsese film). "By 1850, [Chicago] was known throughout the country as the wickedest city in the United States. It has never relinquished that distinction nor lost its leadership in virtually every form of organized vice and depravity. In this informal history of Chicago's underworld, against a background of political corruption second to none, Herbert Asbury traces the lurid story of prostitution and gambling, of footpads and hoodlums, of murder and bootlegging, of racketeering and the golden age of crime in the time of Al Capone" (front cover text). Octavo. Original grey wrappers, printed in purple, "sample copy" printed on top edge. Creasing and rubbing to spine, wrappers and contents a little toned: a very good copy.

First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Henry La Cossitt, with highest regards Herbert Asbury. N.Y. June 15-'44". La Cossitt (1899-1962) was a journalist, scriptwriter for Universal Pictures, and editor of Collier's magazine from 1944 to 1946 - Asbury was associate editor at Collier's from 1942 to 1948. Asbury was the leading profiler of America's criminal world. This work on Chicago, tracing crime and vice in the city from 1833 to reign of Al Capone, followed his The French Quarter on New Orleans, The Barbary Coast on San Francisco, and The Gangs of New York (loosely the basis for the Martin Scorsese film). "By 1850, [Chicago] was known throughout the country as the wickedest city in the United States. It has never relinquished that distinction nor lost its leadership in virtually every form of organized vice and depravity. In this informal history of Chicago's underworld, against a background of political corruption second to none, Herbert Asbury traces the lurid story of prostitution and gambling, of footpads and hoodlums, of murder and bootlegging, of racketeering and the golden age of crime in the time of Al Capone" (jacket). Octavo. Original purple quarter cloth, spine lettered in gilt, pictorial paper-covered boards. With dust jacket. Slight rubbing at extremities and nick at head of spine, endpapers and contents toned; unclipped jacket somewhat darkened and rubbed with minor wear at extremities: a very good copy in very good jacket.

LeatherBound. Condition: New. BOOKS ARE EXEMPT FROM IMPORT DUTIES AND TARIFFS; NO EXTRA CHARGES APPLY. LeatherBound edition. Condition: New. Reprinted from 1940 edition. Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden leaf printing on spine. Bound in genuine leather with Satin ribbon page markers and Spine with raised gilt bands. A perfect gift for your loved ones. Pages: 448 NO changes have been made to the original text. This is NOT a retyped or an ocr'd reprint. Illustrations, Index, if any, are included in black and white. Each page is checked manually before printing. As this print on demand book is reprinted from a very old book, there could be some missing or flawed pages, but we always try to make the book as complete as possible. Fold-outs, if any, are not part of the book. If the original book was published in multiple volumes then this reprint is of only one volume, not the whole set. Sewing binding for longer life, where the book block is actually sewn (smythe sewn/section sewn) with thread before binding which results in a more durable type of binding. Pages: 448.