{"product_id":"a-gun-for-sale-kenju-urimasu-graham-greene-hayakawa-shobo-1952-first-edition","title":"Graham Greene　A Gun for Sale  Hayakawa Shobo 1952　First Edition　","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e[PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS]\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/strong\u003e Graham Greene\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTranslators:\u003c\/strong\u003e Iijima Tadashi (飯島正) \u0026amp; Funada Keiichi (舟田敬一)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTitle:\u003c\/strong\u003e 拳銃売ります (Kenju Urimasu \/ A Gun for Sale)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hayakawa Shobo (早川書房), Tokyo — Kanda Kanagacho 2-2\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eYear Published:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1952 (Showa 27) — First Edition, First Printing. Printed November 20; Published November 25, 1952.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardcover with dust jacket. Illustrated cover (oil-painting style, signed “mizo”).\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/strong\u003e Japanese\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOriginal Price:\u003c\/strong\u003e ¥230\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e[OVERVIEW]\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNovember 1952. Hayakawa Shobo — the Tokyo publisher that would go on to define the Japanese market for crime fiction, science fiction, and literary thriller — issues the first Japanese translation of Graham Greene's \u003cem\u003eA Gun for Sale\u003c\/em\u003e (1936), one of the novels Greene himself classified as an “entertainment”: a category he used not to diminish these books but to distinguish their formal ambitions from his more explicitly Catholic fiction. \u003cem\u003eA Gun for Sale\u003c\/em\u003e, alongside \u003cem\u003eThe Third Man\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Confidential Agent\u003c\/em\u003e (both also published by Hayakawa), represents Greene at his most cinematically taut — a thriller in which the moral weight of the genre is carried not by the detective but by the killer, Raven, a man with a harelip and a contract and a conscience he cannot suppress.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe dust jacket — a painterly, oil-sketch rendering of a rain-swept European square, signed “mizo” in the lower right corner — is a distinguished example of early-1950s Japanese book cover art: atmospheric, European in sensibility, and entirely suited to Greene's world of wet streets and moral ambiguity. The title in bold red characters against the muted cityscape gives the cover an urgency that the English first edition, with its more restrained design, does not match.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e[IMPORTANT NOTE FOR INTERNATIONAL BUYERS: EASY AI TRANSLATION]\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile the text is printed in Japanese, you can easily read and study this historic book using modern smartphone AI tools. By taking a photo of any page with your smartphone and using free apps like Google Lens, ChatGPT, or Google Translate, the embedded AI will instantly scan and translate the text on your screen layout. Language is no longer a barrier to owning and enjoying this rare piece of literary history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e[WHY THIS VOLUME IS A PRIZED COLLECTOR'S ITEM]\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHayakawa Shobo First Edition, 1952:\u003c\/strong\u003e This is the first printing of the first Japanese translation of \u003cem\u003eA Gun for Sale\u003c\/em\u003e, published by Hayakawa Shobo in the year the publisher was establishing itself as Japan's premier home for literary crime fiction. Early Hayakawa first editions from the 1950s — before the publisher's output expanded dramatically — are increasingly scarce in any condition.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGraham Greene's “Entertainments”:\u003c\/strong\u003e Greene's self-designated entertainments — \u003cem\u003eA Gun for Sale\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Third Man\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Confidential Agent\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Ministry of Fear\u003c\/em\u003e — are among the most collected works in twentieth-century British fiction. First editions in any language from the 1950s represent the earliest stratum of their international publication history.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCover Art by “Mizo”:\u003c\/strong\u003e The dust jacket illustration — a signed oil-sketch of a rain-swept European square — is an independent work of art. The artist's signature “mizo” is visible in the lower right corner. Early Hayakawa cover art of this quality is a collecting category in its own right among Japanese book design enthusiasts.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e[CONDITION]\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGood Vintage Condition\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDust Jacket:\u003c\/strong\u003e Present. Significant wear, creasing, and soiling — consistent with 74 years and clearly visible in listing photographs. The cover illustration retains its atmospheric impact.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBoards:\u003c\/strong\u003e Solid beneath the jacket.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBinding:\u003c\/strong\u003e Tight and fully intact.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eInterior:\u003c\/strong\u003e Age-toning consistent with 1952 paper stock. Bookseller's sticker to colophon page. No writing, no clipping.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cem\u003ePlease carefully inspect all high-resolution listing photos to verify condition.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"shady2grove","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":65662224204125,"sku":null,"price":45.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1082\/5888\/5981\/files\/IMG_9046.jpg?v=1787463087","url":"https:\/\/shady2grove.com\/products\/a-gun-for-sale-kenju-urimasu-graham-greene-hayakawa-shobo-1952-first-edition","provider":"shady2grove","version":"1.0","type":"link"}