Patti Abbott is having a celebration of coffee table books on her blog today, so I thought I’d harmonize with her by putting this one up.

It’s a book called The Celebrated Cases of Dick Tracy (1931-1951), and it was published in 1970 by Chelsea House. I paid $15 for it back then, and it was well worth it. Here are some shots of it. Let’s start with the front cover, by itself, then with a dollar bill on it for perspective.

Here’s the inside flap.

And the title page. Note the introduction by Ellery Queen.

Here’s the very first Tracy strip (1931).

Of course, they talk about Chester Gould at length, but most of the interior is devoted to black and white daily strips, like this one, where Tracy is pursuing Flattop.

Finally, the back cover.