The Abysmal Brute

[iv]+169+[1 ad]+[1 blank] pages, frontispiece with tissue guard by Gordon Grant. Small Octavo (7" x 4 3/4"). Issued in olive cloth stamped in yellow and dark green on front cover and spine. Inscribed by Becky London. (Sisson and Martens page 70) First edition variant binding.

The Abysmal Brute is a novel by American writer Jack London, first published in book form in 1913. It is a short novel, and could be regarded as a novelette. It first appeared in September 1911 in Popular Magazine. In the story, a successful boxer, who was brought up in a log cabin and knows little of the real world, begins to realize the corrupt practices in the game of boxing. In 1910, when the story was written, London had become a famous writer but he was worried that he had exhausted his ideas. The Abysmal Brute was based on one of several plot outlines he bought from Sinclair Lewis, an admirer of London who was at the beginning of his career. Other stories by Jack London about boxing are his novel The Game, published in 1905, his short story "A Piece of Steak" of 1909, and his short story "The Mexican" of 1911. The Abysmal Brute, based on the novel, was made into a movie in 1923; it featured Reginald Denny as Pat Glendon Jr, Mabel Julienne Scott as Maud Sangster and Hayden Stevenson as Sam Stubener. Conflict, is a 1936 film based on the novel and starring John Wayne as Pat Glendon, Jr, Jean Rogers as Maud Sangster and Frank Sheridan as Sam Stubener.

Becky (Bess) London Fleming, the younger daughter of Jack and Bessie M. London, was born October 20, 1902, died at 90 years of age on March 26, 1992. Becky and her husband, Percy Fleming, were business partners in a stationary shop in downtown Oakland until retiring. Prior to that Becky had been a stenographer providing her with skills she utilized in transcribing her father's book into Braille for the Institute for the Blind. Becky was the inveterate reader, enjoying a wide range of literature from the classics to her father's writings to science fiction. She was also a dedicated baseball fan. The least ten years of here life were spent, after her husband's death, in Glen Ellen recalling memories of her father for Jack London fans.

Condition:

Previous owner's gift inscription on front end paper along with Becky London's inscription. Corners gently bumped, slight stain to back cover. Jacket chipped with tape repairs on reverse, some tears to middle of spine else a very good copy in a good jacket.