In The Heat of The Night.

BALL, John.

$4,000.00

Item Number: 144307

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1965.

First edition of the author’s classic mystery drama which was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film of the same name starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger and Lee Grant. Octavo, original half cloth, patterned endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title page, “To John Anthony Miller and Hatie with warmest regards and friendship John Ball 29 Sept 1987.” Additionally signed by actress Lee Grant on the title page. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Luis Woods. Rare and desirable.

The Heat of The Night follows the story of Virgil Tibbs, a black homicide detective from California who becomes involved in a murder investigation while passing through the small, racially tense town of Wells, South Carolina. The novel was adapted into a the film of the same name in 1967 directed by Norman Jewison and starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger and Lee Grant, which won five Academy Awards and, in 2002, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.