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The Call of the Wild
by London, Jack
- Used
- fair
- Hardcover
- Signed
- Condition
- Fair/No Jacket
- Seller
-
Kingston, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
The Macmillan Company, 1903. Hardcover. Fair/No Jacket. a significant book in poor condition, hardcover in green boards with three panel illustration on front cover board and dog illustration on spine between titles, interesting inscription by Jack London dated 1903 on FEP to someone who had helped him with this classic work, bookplate of Brooklyn Friends School opposite inscription inside front cover board, book appears to have been personalized by Harry Preston whose period signature appears on front fly and whose initials are scratched into rear cover board (ouch!), frontispiece with tissue guard and remaining other 10 colored illustrations are present, front half title page has been cut out and laid in, page 97 is loose and laid in, under the title on the Hal color illustration the word Hell has been handwritten in the same size lettering, binding has a slight lean, see close-up photo of period signature where original signature has been partially erased, rear inner hinge starting
Synopsis
Jack London’s The Call of the Wild is an anthropomorphic canine’s unforgettable tale of survival. Set during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, the novel’s main character, Buck, a large and powerful St. Bernard-Scotch Shepherd, is stolen from his ranch home in Santa Clara Valley, California, and sold into service as a sled dog. At first, Buck experiences violence and struggles for survival, becoming progressively feral in the harsh environment. By the end, Buck relies on his instinct and learned experience to emerge as the proven leader of the pack. In The Call of the Wild, author Jack London blends his experience as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness with his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, influenced by the work of Darwin and Nietzsche. Thus, although the novel is first and foremost a story about a dog, it displays a philosophical depth absent in most animal adventures. In the summer of 1903, the story was first serialized in four installments in The Saturday Evening Post, which paid $750 for it. Soon after, London sold all rights to The Call of the Wild to Macmillan, which published the story in book format in August of that same year. As the first printing of 10,000 copies sold out immediately, it is safe to say the novel was enormously popular from the moment it was published. It has since secured its place in the canon of American literature. Today, The Call of the Wild is still one of the best-known stories written by an American author and has been published in almost 50 languages. The Call of the Wild is ranked 35th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels and 88th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Philosopher's Stone Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- SKU1000919
- Title
- The Call of the Wild
- Author
- London, Jack
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Fair
- Jacket Condition
- No Jacket
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- The Macmillan Company
- Date Published
- 1903
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
Philosopher's Stone Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Philosopher's Stone Books
Biblio member since 2015
Kingston, New York
About Philosopher's Stone Books
Philosopher Stone Books is a family run effort specializing in the sale of used and rare books / ephemera, book listing services, purchasing agent for research projects and consultation on the management of estate book / ephemera assets from a single item to a library. Our small size allows for a private confidential approach to the deposition of books and ephemera.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Hinge
- The portion of the book closest to the spine that allows the book to be opened and closed.
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Poor
- A book with significant wear and faults. A poor condition book is still a reading copy with the full text still readable. Any...
- Half Title
- The blank front page which appears just prior to the title page, and typically contains only the title of the book, although, at...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
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This Book’s Categories
- Autographs & Signed Books Signed Books
- Children & Juvenile Children’s Fiction & Literature
- Fiction & Literature Action & Adventure
- Fiction & Literature Fiction by Region American Fiction
- Fiction & Literature Classic Literature
- Fiction & Literature Individual Authors Jack London
- Fiction & Literature Literary Studies
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