Blue Russell

USA: Random House, 1976. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Good. 8vo - over 7? - 9?" tall. Type: Hardback First Printing. Hardcover Book in Very Good Condition with a Good+ Dust Jacket. Binding of red half-cloth w/gilt titles, blue paper-wrapped boards; clean and unmarked, tight and solid, slight rubbing of bottom edge, no other edgewear. Small red publisher's mark on the lower edge. Interior in Fine Condition. Jacket not price-clipped, illus. with a locomotive going through the mountains. It is clean, faint whitish marks on front, not chipped. It is an unusual jacket--the top and bottom fold over the height of the book and these inner folds are illustrated with a "WANTED" sign the length of the jacket and, on the top part, three illustrations and text: "Among the Questions Blue Russell Answers: What was the Widow's Game in Cape Girardeau? ( an illustration of the widow gambling); What was Hutch guarding in New Orleans? ( an illustration of Hutch with a shotgun); What was in the Black Box on the train to Telluride? ( an illustration of the black box)". Quite unusual. Orphaned boy Blue Russel worked in his uncle's gunsmith shop in the 1890s in St. Louis and it was a life of poverty in opulent, sophisticated St. Louis (in the 1890s!). His uncle in self-defense and goes on the run when a broken-down, one-eyed safecracker rescues him. Well, his adventures take him West--to Wyoming, Yak, Montana-and to a daring train robbery. A roaring good tale. 310 pages. 5.75 x 8.5 inches. 1976, Random House, New York, New York, USA