The Saracen Blade

New York: Dial Press. Very Good+ in Very Good+ dj. 1952. First Edition. Hardcover. [good sound copy, very slight bumping to lower corners, light spotting to top edge of text block, one-time owner's name written at top of front pastedown and her address label at top of rear pastedown (in both instances mostly concealed by the jacket flaps); the jacket shows a bit of wear at edges and corners, very minor chipping at top of spine]. (endpaper maps) "In a strange way, they were twins -- though one of them was a commoner, and the other an Emperor, though they shared not one drop of related blood. Pietro di Donati, son of a blacksmith, and Frederick the Second of Hohenstaufen, Holy Roman Emperor, were born on the same day, at the same hour, in the same Sicilian town. Thereafter, linked by their stars, they became brothers, bound by a bond of the spirit, of temperament, of their curious, alert intellects, in a way that transcended the usual kinship of the flesh." Source for the 1954 film of the same name, directed (uncharacteristically) by horrormeister William Castle. (NOTE that this is NOT the much more common book club edition; the original $3.50 price is present on the front flap of the unclipped jacket.) .