The Call of the Wild, a jacketed 1923 reprint with tie-ins to the eponymous 1923 silent film.
New York: Grosset & Dunlap, published by arrangement with The Macmillan Company, 1923. Hardcover. This is a jacketed 1923 reprint of perhaps the most iconic work of an archetypally American author and giant of early twentieth century literature. This copy is noteworthy for both retaining the original illustrated dust jacket and for tie-ins to the 1923 silent film directed by Fred Jackman, produced by Hal Roach, starring Jack Mulhall, Walter Long, and a dog actor named Buck. The film was distributed by Pathé Exchange.
The last printing specified on the copyright page is “May, 1915”. Nonetheless, inclusion of three still images from the 1923 film definitively indicate a 1923 issue. Each of these images is specifically captioned “A SCENE FROM THE PHOTOPLAY. The Call of the Wild.” and attributed “A Pathé Picture.” Publication of this printing in 1923 contemporary to the film is further confirmed by prominent advertisement on the dust jacket spine “Illustrated with Scenes from the Photoplay” as well as a publisher’s advertisement following the text of “ETHEL M. DELL NOVELS”, the last of which is 1923’s The Swindler. Note that the film stills are in addition to the original decoration and illustrations by Philip R. Goodwin, Charles Livingston Bull, and Charles Edward Hooper (from the 1903 first edition).
Condition is very good in a very good minus dust jacket. The illustrated cloth binding is square, clean, tight, unfaded, and sharp-cornered, with only light shelf wear to extremities and wrinkled spine ends. Differential toning to the endpapers corresponding to the dust jacket flaps confirm what the beautifully preserved binding already testifies – that this copy has spent life jacketed. The contents are substantially clean and bright internally. Spotting appears almost entirely confined to the endpapers, rear publisher’s advertisement, and the text block edges, which also show appreciable age toning.
The front face of the dust jacket repeats the binding's front cover illustration and is extensively printed with other Grosset & Dunlap titles on both the rear face and the entire dust jacket verso (“A LIST OF MORE THAN 500 TITLES”). The jacket is bright, with no appreciable spine toning, and substantially complete, with minor loss confined to the spine ends and flap fold extremities. The spine shows mild soiling and staining in addition to the losses and wrinkling to the spine ends and the two-inch deep closed tear and attendant wrinkling at the lower right corner of the front face, as well as a few smaller closed tears. The jacket is newly fitted with a clear, removable, archival cover.
Though Jack London had experienced some preceding success as a writer, it was The Call of the Wild, written in his mid-twenties, that brought him fame. London's tale of a pampered California dog who finds his strength, his place, and the brutal gift of his freedom in a savage, primal North met with immediate popularity and critical acclaim and has since remained continuously in print. London's story occupies a pinnacle amid the remarkably prolific output of his short, strenuous, and celebrated literary life. The story's hero, Buck, ranks among the most provocative and best-known animal protagonists in literature. Item #008964
Price: $750.00