The hardboiled detective genre arose in Black Mask magazine. Once considered disposable, its pulp issues are now hard to find. Dashiell Hammett‘s first two novels there, Red Harvest and The Dain Curse, gained staying power when revised versions came out as books in 1929.
Hammett’s Sam Spade debuted in The Maltese Falcon, published in 5 installments in Black Mask ending in the January 1930 issue. That issue went on sale in 1929, so it’ll all be public domain in 43 days. #PublicDomainDayCountdown
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@everybodyslibraries.com Red Harvest was also serialized, and the serialization is already in the public domain, but not widely available—because we don't have access to the issues. We've got the first installment transcribed on Wikisource, but the last three elude us.