The Silver Dagger (Only Signed Copy)

Stated First Printing, First Edition. This book is unique in a number of respects. Once listed, it will be the signed Only copy for sale anywhere on the Internet. The author wrote a number of books but I found only four of these others that were signed. For context, three were selling for $100.00 and one was selling for $200.00. Google Allan Dwight and you're not going to find out much about him. However a little extra searching turned up the information that Allan isn't a him. Allan Dwight is a pseudonym for Lois Dwight Cole. And Lois Dwight Cole has a Wikipedia profile. It turns out she was a good friend of Margaret Mitchell and played a role in the publication of Gone with the Wind. Here is part of the profile: ' Lois Dwight Cole was born in 1903 in New York City. She received her BA at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1924. She worked at Macmillan Publishers, who sent her from New York to Atlanta in 1927. There she met Peggy Mitchell Marsh (who became better known by her pen-name Margaret Mitchell), and they became lifelong friends. Peggy introduced her to Turney Allan Taylor, a bachelor journalist, who later became Cole's husband. When Cole learned that Mitchell was writing a novel, she asked to see it, but Mitchell refused to let her or anyone else read it. Macmillan sent Lois back to New York in 1930, and promoted her to associate editor. Cole continued inquiring after Mitchell's novel, and in 1933 Mitchell replied that Lois would be the first to read it if it ever got finished. Cole introduced her boss, editor Harold Latham, to Mitchell in 1935. In April 1935, Mitchell gave him the manuscript to read, and Latham sent it on to Cole after having read the first few chapters. Mitchell later said that "John (her husband John Marsh) and Lois are the only persons I ever discussed it with in any detail" before she gave the manuscript to Latham. She continued to assist Mitchell and her husband John on one hand, and Latham on the other hand, in getting the book to a finished state. She edited the blurb, written by John, to its final state. Cole also promoted the book before its release, making sure that it was included in the Book of the Month Club selection. Finally, in April 1936, Macmillan produced the first printing of Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. The book here for sale was previously owned by the author Eleanor Lothrop. One of her books was titled Throw Me a Bone. The signed inscription reads: 'For Eleanor Lothrop, To remind her of the fun we had with "Throw Me a Bone" from her ex-editor and long-lasting friend.' Below that she signed both Lois Cole and Allan Dwight. Also 'November 1959.' See photo. The covers of the book are very clean. The silver lettering and design on the front and spine is very bright. The book has very little wear, a little fading and bending at the spine ends and light rubbing at the corners. The book is square and very solidly bound from cover to cover with nicely tight pages. These pages are very clean. I didn't see any soiling at all until a few consecutive late pages that have just a few light spots off their bottom edge. The pages are also in excellent condition. There are no creases or dogeared corners. Nor are there any markings. There are no attachments of any kind. And the author's signed inscription is the only writing to be found anywhere in the book. The dust jacket is clean. Given its age, it has some wear: a small tear off the bottom edge of both the front and rear, small tears and a bit of loss at both spine ends. The top and bottom corners of the front flap are clipped, however the price survived. There is some foxing off the bottom edge of the rear flap, also a little creasing. I have the jacket in a fitted protective cover. After the publication of Gone with the Wind, Cole worked as editor at Whittlesey House and G. P. Putnam's Sons. She later became the senior editor at first William Morrow and Company and finally Walker and Company.…