Murder for Love.
New York: Covici Friede, 1931. First edition, presentation copy inscribed in 1931 Ione Quinby: “To Katherine Davis, With the hope that you will have lots of love, but no murder in your life.”. A couple leaves toned, seemingly from a bookmark or piece of paper once left inside. A very good copy of a work that is scarce in commerce. Publisher’s red cloth titled in black. In the original color-illustrated dustjacket (chip missing from bottom edge at back cover). Octavo. 324 pp. Item #17443
An anthology of cases of murders by women. Features Belle Gunness, the Norwegian American “Hell’s Belle” who killed at least fourteen people; serial killer Tillie Klimek; assistant district attorney Wanda Stopa, who accidentally shot her lover’s gardener; as well as Ruth Snyder, Clara Smith Hamon, Grace Lusk, and Catherine Cassler.
Ione Quinby Griggs (1891 – 1991) began her career as a journalist with the Chicago Evening Post. She primarily covered crime, interviewing such figures as Al Capone, but also reported extensively on politics. During the Great Depression, she reported on homeless and unemployed women. Griggs had over a thousand bylined stories during her time at the paper, and at the peak of her career she bylined in a third of the daily papers. In 1934, while working at the Milwaukee Journal, Griggs pioneered a new kind of column: the “Dear Mrs. Griggs” advice column, which presaged the “Ask Ann Landers” and “Dear Abby” columns of the 1950s, as well as decades of imitators. Griggs wrote over 15,000 “Dear Mrs. Griggs” columns before her retirement in 1985, upon which she was inducted into the Milwaukee Press Club’s Hall of Fame. The University of Wisconsin now offers the Quinby Griggs Journalism Scholarship in honor of her career.
Price: $375.00