Keeper of the Flame

New York: Random House. Near Fine. (c.1942). First Edition. Hardcover. (lacking the original dust jacket, but encased in a professionally-made facsimile reproduction of same; see 2nd image posted with this listing) [nice clean copy with minimal shelfwear, spine slightly turned, minor bumping to lower front corner]. Novel about the young widow of an up-and-coming politician who's killed in a solo car accident, and her subsequent affair with the war correspondent who's been assigned by his newspaper to write the dead man's biography -- and the tension that arises from the writer's gradual discovery that the truth about his subject doesn't quite line up with his public image. Basis for the 1942 film of the same name, directed by George Cukor, which was already in pre-production when the novel was published in April 1942, and was the second teaming of stars Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The Grosset & Dunlap edition of the book, issued as a tie-in with the movie, is quite common, but the first edition is remarkably scarce. Although not marked as such, this copy comes from the library of noted M-G-M producer/writer Carey Wilson (who was not involved in the making of the film, although it was made at M-G-M, with Victor Saville as producer and screenplayed by Donald Ogden Stewart.) NOTE again that this book bears a FACSIMILE dust jacket, to serve the dual purpose of protecting the book from further wear and enhancing its appearance on the shelf; its presence has not been factored in to our pricing. .