Beginning with this episode and continuing to the end of the series, the model courtroom intro was replaced by alternating intros that variously show Perry Mason entering an empty courtroom or seated in an empty courtroom.
The MacGuffin for this episode is a First Edition "Tristram Shandy", by Laurence Sterne. The interesting literary tidbit is that Tristram Shandy was published in nine volumes, over a number of years. The volume referred to is never mentioned. However, when Paul Drake is discussing Tristam Shandy with a librarian who has a volume of Tristam Shandy, the librarian refers to it as "Volume 1". Obviously the author of the episode must have known then that there was more than one volume.
Moreover, the complete set of "first editions" of all nine volumes sells for about $12 or $13 thousand as of 2023, so it is unlikely that a single book from the set would be worth $8,000 in 1962. However, it seems that not a single copy of the original "first edition" of the first two volumes, published by the author himself, survives; if one were found, it would be worth a fortune by itself. The first editions that are available are reprints by the bookseller to whom Sterne gave the rights to his work. After the self-published first edition was a hit and sold out, the bookseller ordered more copies from another printer. Sterne had sold the rights, and made very little money, even though he finished writing seven more volumes, and he died in poverty.
Moreover, the complete set of "first editions" of all nine volumes sells for about $12 or $13 thousand as of 2023, so it is unlikely that a single book from the set would be worth $8,000 in 1962. However, it seems that not a single copy of the original "first edition" of the first two volumes, published by the author himself, survives; if one were found, it would be worth a fortune by itself. The first editions that are available are reprints by the bookseller to whom Sterne gave the rights to his work. After the self-published first edition was a hit and sold out, the bookseller ordered more copies from another printer. Sterne had sold the rights, and made very little money, even though he finished writing seven more volumes, and he died in poverty.
Adam West and H.M. Wynant would reunite nearly 5 years later on Batman (1966) in the paired episodes Ice Spy (1967)/The Duo Defy (1967).
The writer of this episode, Jonathan Latimer, must have been in his "Cosgrove" period. In this episode, the first edition of Tristram Shandy was stolen from the Cosgrove Library, and the cleaning woman in Perry's office building was Mrs. Holly Cosgrove in The Case of the Borrowed Baby (1962), which was the script he wrote for the series just before this one.
Michael Fox and Adam West were later reunited for the Batman (1966) series premiere, Hi Diddle Riddle (1966). Burr and Fox were later reunited for the Ironside (1967) episode Death by the Numbers (1972), in which Fox played Dr. Albert Gold.