Inscribed presentation copy, signed by Chandler on the front free endpaper, only nineteen days before his death, to his driver and part-time handyman: "To My Dear Friend Leon, With love, Ray, La Jolla, March 7th, 1959." Beneath the inscription, Helga Greene, Chandler's fiancée and literary agent, has inscribed: "To the American I would most like to take back with me to England -- Leon. Love & best wishes from Helga, March 7th, 1959." True first edition which preceded the American edition. This is the final appearance of Philip Marlowe. Bruccoli A11.1.a.