lost film, found book

One of holy grails of movie history is the 1927 Lon Chaney film London After Midnight.  The last known print* was burned in a fire in 1967.

In 1928 a novelization of the script came out, which included stills from the movie.

How do I know that?

I know because I found a copy during today's thrift run.

*A movie fan friend of mine claims he met a guy at some kinda movie collectibles convention who claimed he had a complete print of the film.  Sadly, he forgot the guy's name.