The Call of the Wild by Jack London - 1924

LONDON, Jack. The Call of the Wild. Illustrations by Paul Bransom. NY: Macmillan, 1924. 12mo, 255pp. Blue boards decoratively stamped in black and gold with color pictorial label affixed to front; top edge blue-green. Pictorial endpapers; 16 color plates and numerous smaller b&w and color illustrations. Slight rubbing to spine ends and lower corners, previous owner's bookplate affixed to verso of front free endpaper, else a remarkably clean, bright, nearly pristine copy in original color pictorial dust jacket (slight edge wear, rear lightly soiled).

1923 edition (printed in October 1923 with 1924 on the title), being issued nearly precisely 20 years after the first edition in 1903. The copyright page seems to indicate a new reproduction as of 1912, of which this is the third printing, which may explain the brightness and sharpness of all the color plates. Jack London's beloved novel of survival in the wilderness, captured in Paul Bransom's spectacular watercolor illustrations, has captivated readers for over a hundred years and been adapted to film numerous times, including a silent film from the year of this book's printing. A more beautiful copy is hard to imagine.