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The Call of the Wild
by London, Jack
- Used
- near fine
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine
- Seller
-
Pasadena, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1903. First edition. Near Fine. A Near Fine copy of the book, lacking the original dust jacket. First printing, July, 1903 stated on the copyright page. White paint a bit rubbed on the front board. Housed in a custom red quarter-leather slipcase with chemise.
A Klondike Gold Rush adventure novel told from the point of view of the dog Buck, The Call of the Wild is also a consideration of the thin line that separates "civilized" creatures from their primal origins. Though he begins life as the pampered and much-loved pet of a California gentleman, Buck is stolen and forced into service as a sled dog in the Alaska Yukon. The lowest member of his pack, Buck faces abuse from his incompetent human owners as well as violence within his team as the dogs jockey for higher positions that aide their survival. Ultimately, Buck must relinquish his individualistic tameness to find his place as a trustworthy team leader and he must tap into the most primitive tendencies that lay dormant inside him. Near Fine.
A Klondike Gold Rush adventure novel told from the point of view of the dog Buck, The Call of the Wild is also a consideration of the thin line that separates "civilized" creatures from their primal origins. Though he begins life as the pampered and much-loved pet of a California gentleman, Buck is stolen and forced into service as a sled dog in the Alaska Yukon. The lowest member of his pack, Buck faces abuse from his incompetent human owners as well as violence within his team as the dogs jockey for higher positions that aide their survival. Ultimately, Buck must relinquish his individualistic tameness to find his place as a trustworthy team leader and he must tap into the most primitive tendencies that lay dormant inside him. Near Fine.
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
- Whitmore Rare Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 5987
- Title
- The Call of the Wild
- Author
- London, Jack
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First edition
- Publisher
- The Macmillan Company
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1903
- Keywords
- For the pride of trace and trail was his, and sick unto death, he could not bear that another dog should do his work.
Terms of Sale
Whitmore Rare Books
15 day return guarantee, with full refund if an item arrives damaged or not matching the description.
About the Seller
Whitmore Rare Books
Biblio member since 2009
Pasadena, California
About Whitmore Rare Books
We operate a retail shop in "Old Town" Pasadena open normal business hours Tuesday through Saturday.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Copyright page
- The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
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