RENARD, Maurice. The Hands of Orlac [METRO-GOLDWYN-MEYER SCRIPT DEPARTMENT COPY]. New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., (1929).

First Edition stated. M. B. K. dustjacket art. Extremely scarce Bleiler and Hubin listed horror novel which served as the basis for several films including Mad Love, (which is noted on the MGM Script Dept. slip pasted to front endpaper) directed by Karl Freund and starring Peter Lorre. Orlac, a famous concert pianist, who is severely injured in a train wreck that fractures his skull and mutilates his hands. The supervising surgeon, however, decides to amputate Orlac's ruined hands and replace them with the hands of a recently executed prisoner who was serving time for murder. Once the pianist recovers and realizes that his hands are those of a killer, he becomes too distraught to resume his career and begins to question his sanity. Who is that strange man who is shadowing him? Why do his hands seem to have a life of their own? The storyline becomes increasingly grim as Orlac's father is found murdered and the fingerprints on the knife match those on the pianist's new hands. Very Good, paste discoloration at front endpaper where MGM File Copy envelope was pasted (and which is now laid in), nick to cloth at upper front cover, in nearly Very Good dustjacket, top edge with perhaps a half centimeter of loss, some shallow edge chipping at spine ends and flap corners, lower edge of rear panel with sustained centimeter deep chipping, upper rear panel with a square inch sized chip.

Price: $7,000.00