The Case is Altered - William Plomer 1932 - Farrar &, New York - First American Edition A bright and sharp first American edition of Plomer’s murder mystery based on the 1929 murder of Sybil de Costa by her partner Japanese-American James Achew in front of their child. The murder took place at the London boarding-house kept by Sybil in Notting Hill, this house was later occupied by Plomer himself.`   William Charles Franklyn Plomer CBE [1903-73], left South Africa after the publication of his first novel ‘Turbott Wolfe‘ in 1926, and moved to Japan. In 1929 he returned to England, where he was friends with Virginia Woolf, became literary editor for Faber and Faber, and reader and literary adviser to Jonathan Cape.

Plomer’s ‘
Turbott Wolfe’ influenced generations of writers, and led to a lasting friendship with Ian Fleming, who whilst still at Eton , was so taken by the novel,that he wrote a fan letter to Plomer; Fleming would get Plomer a job in Naval Intelligence, and Plomer would later edit all the Bond books at Jonathan Cape from 1953 to 1964. It was Plomer to whom Fleming showed his manuscript for Casino Royale, and who liked it enough to give it to Jonathan Cape.

First American edition, published the same year as the London edition. With publisher’s logo to the verso of the title page.

Reference: Cyril Connolly,
The Modern Movement,52.

Octavo (book size 21x14cm), pp. [6] 378. In publisher’s yellow beige cloth, spine and upper panel lettered in burgundy, top edge tinted green, illustrated endpapers, foredge untrimmed. Dust jacket price-clipped to upper corner of front flap, and with gentle colour touch up to spine and small 1cm patch to front panel.
  Condition: Near fine, some light foxing to the cloth, internally fine, in near fine price-clipped dust jacket, mark from former piece of tape to verso at spine, gentle colour touch up to spine and small 1cm patch to front panel.   Ref: 110452   Price: HK$ 1,200