The Hidden Door — Packard, Crime Club 1933

📖 The Hidden Door by Frank L. Packard (1933, The Crime Club / Doubleday, Doran) — a first edition golden-age mystery featuring criminologist and detective-story writer Colin Hewitt, drawn into a world of secret identities, underworld treachery, and sudden death along the Quebec coast and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: Frank L. Packard (1877–1942), Montreal-born novelist and creator of the Jimmie Dale / Gray Seal series
• Publisher: The Crime Club, Inc. / Doubleday, Doran & Company, Garden City, N.Y.
• Year: 1933 (Stated First Edition; copyright 1932, 1933)
• Format: Hardcover in black cloth with red/orange stamped Crime Club graphics — no dust jacket
• Pages: 300 | ISBN: None (pre-ISBN era)
• Condition: Very Good- (VG-) — full report below

THE STORY

Colin Hewitt is both a successful writer of detective fiction and a practicing criminologist — a man who knows crime intimately on the page and in the field. When a stranger brings him a mysterious letter and a request shadowed by death, Colin is drawn into the orbit of a criminal mastermind known only as “the Mask.” Pursuing a trail that leads from a New York City alleyway to the remote Quebec fishing village of Cap à l’Orage and onward to Seven Islands and Newfoundland, Colin adopts an assumed identity and navigates a cast of characters including the enigmatic Germaine, Dr. Tremblay, and the elusive Joe Lazarre. Along the way he confronts betrayal, violence, and the uncomfortable question of how far a man of letters will go when real danger replaces fiction.

THIS EDITION

This is the stated first edition, published in 1933 under The Crime Club imprint — Doubleday, Doran’s dedicated mystery and crime fiction line. The Crime Club was one of the most important publishers of detective fiction in the golden age, issuing works by authors including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and S.S. Van Dine. The copyright page states “Copyright, 1932, 1933 / By Frank L. Packard / All Rights Reserved / First Edition.” The original dust jacket, illustrated by Edwin Georgi with a $2.00 price, is not present on this copy.

COVER ART & DESIGN

The binding is black cloth with striking red-orange stamped graphics — the distinctive Crime Club house design featuring a stylized gun barrel, lock mechanism, and keyhole motif on the front board. The spine carries the title, author name, and a small Crime Club figure illustration, all in matching red-orange. This bold black-and-red palette was characteristic of Crime Club first editions from this period and remains one of the most recognizable designs in golden-age mystery collecting.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Frank L. Packard is best known as the creator of Jimmie Dale, the “Gray Seal” — a gentleman thief who fought crime by night, a character widely cited as a precursor to later masked heroes including Batman and the Shadow
• The Crime Club imprint was the premier publisher of detective fiction in the 1930s; Crime Club first editions carry particular collector interest
• Packard was a Montreal-born, McGill-educated civil engineer turned novelist who brought authentic Canadian settings — the Quebec coast, the Gulf of St. Lawrence — to American mystery fiction
• This copy bears a bookseller label from Biblo and Tannen, 99 Fourth Avenue, New York — the legendary “Book Row” shop that specialized in out-of-print and collectible books for decades

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? Stated first edition, published 1933 by The Crime Club, Inc. / Doubleday, Doran & Company. Copyright 1932, 1933.

What condition is it in? Very Good- (VG-). See full condition report below.

Is the dust jacket included? No. This copy is bare boards only. The original dust jacket was illustrated by Edwin Georgi.

FOR COLLECTORS

Crime Club first editions in original black cloth with red stamping are increasingly sought after by golden-age mystery collectors. This copy’s provenance through Biblo and Tannen — one of New York City’s most celebrated antiquarian bookshops on the historic Fourth Avenue “Book Row” — adds a layer of collectible appeal that connects this volume to the golden age of American bookselling itself.

Condition Report

Overall Grade: Very Good- (VG-)

Cover & Spine: Rubbing to the edges and corners of the black cloth boards. Wear to spine ends. Red stamping on front board and spine remains clear and legible. Cloth is worn through at all four board corners.

Text Block & Pages: Tanning along the deckled text block edges consistent with vintage paper stock. Interior pages show uniform light age-toning while remaining clean and unmarked. New York City “book row” bookseller tag (Biblo and Tannen) is affixed to the rear pastedown near the spine.

Binding: Solid, front hinge starting, front free endpaper has been torn out, remnant of base present in the hinge.

See accompanying images for full condition details.

Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

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