Three Beds in Manhattan

Item Details

New York, Doubleday, 1964, Hardcover

First American Edition, First Printing, VG

SIMENON, Georges / Three Beds in Manhattan. New York, DoubleDay & Company Inc., 1964

First American Edition, First Printing, Inscribed by Translator.

8.50 x 5.8 in (213 X 145 mm). 1 vol. of 190 pp

Translation from the French (1946 French title: Trois Chambres à Manhattan) by Lawrence G. Blochman, who inscribed the book: “With the untranslated love of the translator. Larry”, “New York, All Fools’ Day, 1964”.

No better summary exists than the one found on the front flap of the dust jacket: "Two disillusioned people in New York, desperate with loneliness."

Simenon (1903-1989) masterfully captures here this atmosphere, with his signature talent.

The book is particularly notable for being widely regarded as highly autobiographical— a fact Simenon himself acknowledged. It recounts his first encounter in 1945 with the woman who would become his closest collaborator for many years and, in 1950, his second wife, Denyse Ouimet. Their relationship, marked by turbulence, ultimately ended in divorce in 1978.

It is also known for the 1965 film adaptation by Marcel Carné, starring Maurice Ronet and Annie Girardot.

Dust Jacket designed by Ellen Raskin in close to very good condition with minor loss at upper rear joint, with light surface rubbing—scarce in this state.

Book’s endpapers display some moderate vertical offsetting/shadowing along the gutter and inner hinge, otherwise a clean internal copy.

Close to very good overall.

USD 200

  # 467