Mysterious Bookshop owner Otto Penzler reflects on over forty years spent assembling what was, quite possibly, the world's greatest library of mystery fiction first editions. Relating the stories surrounding the acquisition of key titles in the collection, these memoirs also tell of a life spent in the world of books—including anecdotes about the authors, booksellers, and fellow collectors encountered along the way. Anyone interested in collecting or in the history of the Mysterious Bookshop won't want to miss. Introduction—Memoires de Vidocq : Francoise-Eugene Vidocq—Bleak house : Charles Dickens—After dark : Wilkie Collins—The Leavenworth case : Anna Katharine Green—The mystery of a hansom cab : Fergus Hume—Prince Zaleski : M.P. Shiel—Three women and a mystery : Anna Katharine Green—Lingo Dan : Percival Pollard—The mystery of the yellow room : Gaston Leroux—The adventures of Archer Dawe (sleuth-hound) : J.S. Fletcher—The silent bullet : Arthur B. Reeve—Adventures of the infallible Goddahl : Frederick Irving Anderson—The house without a key : Earl Derr Biggers—Meet the tiger : Leslie Charteris—Red harvest : Dashiell Hammett—The maltese falcon : Dashiell Hammett—The curious Mr. Tarrant : C. Daly King—The disintegration of J.P.G. : Georges Simenon—Brighton rock : Graham Greene—Death from a top hat : Clayton Rawson—The powwow murder case : S.S. Van Dine—The big sleep : Raymond Chandler—Farewell, my lovely : Raymond Chandler — $106,000 blood money : Dashiell Hammett—Blood on the dining room floor : Gertrude Stein—The deep blue good-by : John D. MacDonald.