Great stuff, Slater.  Worthy of its own thread.

son slater wrote:

I’m just finishing The Law at Randado, a very enjoyable read, more balanced and patterned than Bounty Hunters with circular plotting at the start and a spectacular sweep accross the Old West landscape with an ultimate showdown that shows Dutch’s unusual touch.Story arcs and points of view all describe real events in the history of the old west, or feel as though they do, and that after all is what draws us on up the great sloping ranges of Southern Arizona. We get it all here, the chases through mountain country, showdowns with gun fighters and most important, the interpersonal relationships of these people who we will meet again and again in reading Leonard.
The hero Kirby Frye is the underdog with the “ground up” knowlege pitted against the forces of ignorant power.
Love interest is very low keyed as the shopkeeper Tindal’s daughter demurs behind the stuffed shirts of the town,
the usual cast of DeSpain in the bar, Earl Beaudry, George Stedman, the banker and Haig Hanasian and his wife Edith in the Café.
“There must be a better way to do this” says Harold Mendez as the writ is made in the sheriff’s office in Randado, the first of Leonard’s police proceedurals.  Phil Sundeen is the bad guy, the son of the wealthy but infirm and dying top rancher in the district, this is a theme that will be explored many times in Elmore annals and here it takes the methodical process of the law bravely applied to snap focus on the power of the gun and the final triumph of humanity.

In terms of collectability, Randado also is the rarest and most expensive of Elmore’s books. Gregg probably has the exact numbers, but if I recall correctly, 5,000 copies of Bounty Hunters were printed, but only 1,000 of Randado, with most of them going to libraries. Accordingly, over the years it’s been much easier to locate a copy of Bounty Hunters than a copy of Randado, any copy, let alone a clean one, one with no library markings and isn’t beat to shit.

In case anyone’s interested, next down in cost is Escape, going for about 1/4 of Randado, then The Moonshine War, Unknown Man, 52 Pick-Up, and Swag. The other hardcovers are around for under $100.

The edition shown is from Thorndike’s large print series from the mid 80’s
The cover art is illustrative of the painterly Remington style
the series seems to be getting scarce as well

There is a theme here
In The Bounty Hunters The Mimbre Apache are still seen as renegades
while the Coyotero are skilled trackers taking a pride in their work
they are still killed by the stupid white man
Three Cents dies
who mourns?

In The Law Dandy Jim speaks first describing the town of Randado
from the windows of his jail-cell

The Bounty Hunters escape punishment even though they have been ripping the hair
off innocent men women and children
all for money

Dandy Jim is Deputy Sheriff Kirby Frye’s deputy
hunting the badlands of the Huachuca country for Clay Jordon
notorious hired killer for a minor infraction

The bounty hunters are used to bring an end to the wild and free life of Soldado
even when the Mimbre prove their complete respect for both natural law and the conventions of the colonial west
they are still trapped between Mexico’s Rurales and the US Army

Jim voices a clear understanding of the situation he finds himself a part
this Coyotero seeks the future where his spirit self is at peace
in the present he works at his job

The thought occurred to me that Killshot opens in a similar way
Blackbird in his room at the Waverly hotel

The Law at Randado 1954
Social order Very little romance
Complex structure of municipal power
Public opinion and common morality
Just law and how it protects
Police Procedures
Kirby’s partner Frank who it seems could not be bothered with chasing the Apache to save the hostler’s wife and little girl from being enslaved by the Chiricahuas. The issues of slavery exist today
Why we are fighting racism.

Why does this site give the first hardcover edition date of 1954, when in fact it was 1955?

Don’t know about the site but the volume I have (shown above) lists on the front data page a copyright date of 1954 and an original publication date the same, Boston: Hougton Mifflin.
Why do you say 1955?

Because all the dealers say the first edition Houghton Mifflin hardcover is 1955…
On that edition it is copyright 1954 (the Dell paperback came out then)
and 1955 on the title page.
can you emal me pix of your title page and copyright page? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Check out the novels section on the website for definitive information on pub dates.

I have corresponded with several book dealers and am convinced that the first hardcover edition, copyright 1954, has the year 1955 on the title page. That is, it was published by Houghton-Mifflin in 1955. (And that the date given in the books section of this website is incorrect.)
See the reasons in my description at ebay, item no. 140113776923
I would, of course, change my opinion upon receipt of compelling primary-source evidence.

Bartonroad’s correct. I just pulled both my copies, firsts of the paperback and the hardcover editions. The paperback was copyrighted in 1954. The hardback says copyrighted in 1954—of course, since original writings are copyrighted only once—and also shows the 1955 date, clearly the year in which the hardcover edition was published.

Thus, the apparent conflict is resolved.

BTW, our man wrote in my hardcover copy: “My second book—and I didn’t choke. Dutch.” Is he the greatest or what?

BTW, pt. II: The hardcover edition of the book has red boards. But it’s a little-known fact that there’s another version, also published in 1955, sometimes called the western edition, which has bluish-green boards. I have a copy of that one, too. If anyone has information on this western edition—number of copies printed, rarity, current price, etc.—please let me know. I’ve made inquiry and no one seems to have any info beyond what I wrote above. And, to give credit where credit’s due, that info was tracked down by the king of the Elmore pulp collectors, Joel Lyczak.

LACrimAtty, thanks for the information. I think there is no question that the hardcover was 1955.
But now the bibliographers are checking in with me and claiming that the paperback was published in 1956. From what you say, I gather that the copyright page of the PB says 1954…  are there any other date statements on the copyright page or the title page?

I took another look and the only date-related entry I see in the PB 1st is “Copyright MCMLIV.” When it was published you can’t tell from the PB itself.

However, I did a little google work and found this site. It purports to list all the dates all the various editions of the book were printed:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/elmore-leonard/law-at-randado.htm

Scroll down and you’ll see the first PB entry indicating 1955.

Last, the same type of info is at this site as to all Elmore’s books, both hardcovers and PB editions. See:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/elmore-leonard/

Those references appear to be contradictory… and I believe some references either state the copyright date rather than the publication (title page) date, or are relying on the incorrect information on the Novels page of this site.

Anyway, here’s what I am going with. For the hardcover I have on ebay now, I will guarantee this is correct:

The hardcover was copyrighted in 1954 and published in 1955. It is the true first edition. http://tinyurl.com/2lr6jh
The softcover was published by Dell in 1956. It is Dell #863. Dell numbered their PBs in sequence and this conforms to 1956.

Okay, finally finished John Irving’s 800+ page epic Until I Find You and can jump into antoher Dutch western.  This one is moving right along and the adverb count as of the middle of chapter 2 is approaching double digits.  ;-D

BTW, when did this site go center justified?  Kinda cool, but kinda weird as well.

And Son, what’s the deal with all the red Franks?  The McCarthy era came much later as I recall.

My Question Exactly
Franks appear in increasing numbers as we read
mostly as villanous at worst
at best
djones’s asshole brother in law
I’m working on a list of Franks
somewhere else in the forum
I’ll post it somewhere else again when complete

This is a great story, fun read, has everything we’ve come to expect in EL books, and coming at the infancy of his career is hardly noticeable.  Slater’s impressions ring true.  From Son’s initial post above:

I’m just finishing The Law at Randado, a very enjoyable read, more balanced and patterned than Bounty Hunters with circular plotting at the start and a spectacular sweep accross the Old West landscape with an ultimate showdown that shows Dutch’s unusual touch.  Story arcs and points of view all describe real events in the history of the old west, or feel as though they do, and that after all is what draws us on up the great sloping ranges of Southern Arizona. We get it all here, the chases through mountain country, showdowns with gun fighters and most important, the interpersonal relationships of these people who we will meet again and again in reading Leonard.

Well done sirs Slater and Leonard.  Moving on to Gold Coast.