A 1969 Hand‑List from the Kit‑Cat Press

This five‑page booklet from the Kit‑Cat Press is a small but striking tribute to Raymond Chandler at the height of his late‑1960s revival. Printed in 1969, it pairs stark, modernist typography with a concise hand‑list of Chandler’s stories, novels, essays, and film scripts—an enthusiast’s attempt to map the full terrain of his work just as Penguin was bringing him to a new generation of British readers.

A brief introduction frames Chandler not as a pulp writer but, in W. H. Auden’s words, a creator of “works of art.” The chronological lists that follow are wonderfully meticulous, distinguishing the early Black Mask tales, the “cannibalised” stories later reworked into novels, and the major Marlowe books that defined hard‑boiled fiction. The final page turns to Hollywood, charting Chandler’s screenwriting from Double Indemnity to Strangers on a Train.

What makes the booklet compelling is its scale: a private‑press homage, produced with care, at a moment when Chandler’s reputation was shifting from genre writer to literary stylist. It’s a crisp, elegant piece of ephemera—part bibliography, part fan‑scholar tribute, and a snapshot of Chandler’s growing cultural stature in 1969.

A word on the Kit‑Cat Press

The Kit‑Cat Press was Kenneth Hardacre’s small private press in Hertfordshire, producing short, carefully printed pamphlets for fellow enthusiasts rather than the commercial market. Hardacre specialised in tidy, bibliophilic ephemera—hand‑set, limited in scope, and made with obvious affection. His Chandler hand‑list is typical of his output: modest, precise, and created by someone who simply loved good printing and good writing.