Bidspirit auction | 1928. Ball, Eustace H. The

1928. Ball, Eustace H. The Legion of the Condemned. Grosset & Dunlap. Photoplay Edition (DJ) - A 1928 hardcover edition of The Legion of the Condemned, written by Eustace Hale Ball and based on the Paramount photoplay by John Monk Saunders. This volume is a photoplay edition, issued to coincide with the release of the silent film of the same name. The book is bound in the publisher's original blue cloth with black stamped titles and a decorative aviation-themed wing vignette on the front board and spine. The title page bears the Grosset & Dunlap publishers device and the imprint New York. The copyright page identifies the publisher as Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., and lists the date 1928. The volume is illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographic plates featuring scenes and actors from the motion picture, including images of Gary Cooper as Gale Price and Fay Wray as Christine Charteris. The plates include captions such as Gale Price joins that band of gallant lost souls and To a brave and speedy death! The interior includes the original promotional paper wrapper, which features a printed red instruction at the foot of several illustrated pages reading PRESERVE THIS WRAPPER FOR FUTURE REFERENCE. The rear of the dust jacket advertises Gripping Romances of the Great War, listing titles such as Wings and War Birds. The original pictorial dust jacket is in poor to fair condition, showing significant paper loss at the top edge of the front panel and the head of the spine (photo 1). There is also a notable chip at the base of the spine and various small tears, creases, and rubbing throughout the jacket surfaces (photo 2, 3). The blue cloth binding is generally well-preserved, though there is visible bumping to the corners and light shelf wear (photo 4, 5). The interior pages and photographic plates are present and intact, exhibiting expected age-toning to the paper edges (photo 9, 10). The dust jacket is currently protected in a clear removable sleeve.