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The People of the Abyss
by London, Jack
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good/No Dust Jacket
- Seller
-
Pasadena, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1903. First Edition . Blue Cloth. Very Good/No Dust Jacket. 8 1/2" Tall. Photographs Throughout. Xiii, 319 Pp. Blue Cloth Stamped In Gilt And Black, Top Edge Gilt, Foredge And Bottom Edge Deckled. Publishing Date 1903 On Title Page, And October 1903 On Copyright Page. First Issue Blue Binding [There Is A Later Red Remainder Binding Using Smaller Pages, But Otherwise Identical], With Undetermined Issue Point: Publisher's Name At Base Of Spine Is 4 Mm Tall; In A Small Number Of Other Copies It Is 3Mm Tall; No Priority Established. 3982 Copies Printed. Front Cover With All Gilt And Black Ink Entirely Present, Spine With Complete Gilt Lettering And Design Showing Some Rubbing; Top Edge Gilt Still Shiny. Cloth Worn At All Edges And On Spine, No Fraying, No Repairs. A Very Clean Copy, No Foxing Or Stains Or Marks. A Hard Look At The Condition Of The Poor In London, Resulting In A Sobering And Informative Book. Later Reprint Editions Of This Book Omit Many Of These Original Illustrations.
Synopsis
The experiences related in this volume fell to me in the summer of 1902. I went down into the under-world of London with an attitude of mind which I may best liken to that of the explorer. I was open to be convinced by the evidence of my eyes, rather than by the teachings of those who had not seen, or by the words of those who had seen and gone before. Further, I took with me certain simple criteria with which to measure the life of the under-world. That which made for more life, for physical and spiritual health, was good; that which made for less life, which hurt, and dwarfed, and distorted life, was bad.It will be readily apparent to the reader that I saw much that was bad. Yet it must not be forgotten that the time of which I write was considered "good times" in England. The starvation and lack of shelter I encountered constituted a chronic condition of misery which is never wiped out, even in the periods of greatest prosperity.Following the summer in question came a hard winter. Great numbers of the unemployed formed into processions, as many as a dozen at a time, and daily marched through the streets of London crying for bread. Mr. Justin McCarthy, writing in the month of January 1903, to the New York Independent, briefly epitomises the situation as follows:-"The workhouses have no space left in which to pack the starving crowds who are craving every day and night at their doors for food and shelter. All the charitable institutions have exhausted their means in trying to raise supplies of food for the famishing residents of the garrets and cellars of London lanes and alleys. The quarters of the Salvation Army in various parts of London are nightly besieged by hosts of the unemployed and the hungry for whom neither shelter nor the means of sustenance can be provided."It has been urged that the criticism I have passed on things as they are in England is too pessimistic. I must say, in extenuation, that of optimists I am the most optimistic. But I measure manhood less by political aggregations than by individuals. Society grows, while political machines rack to pieces and become "scrap." For the English, so far as manhood and womanhood and health and happiness go, I see a broad and smiling future. But for a great deal of the political machinery, which at present mismanages for them, I see nothing else than the scrap heap.
Reviews
On Oct 5 2010, Ctjjc55 said:
This is a very interesting book set in London in the first decade of the twentieth century. You can read it as a social history as long as you remember what Alexander Masters writes in the foreword to the book; 'as an objective, trustworthy analysis, Abyss won’t do at all'.In 1902 Jack London moves temporarily into East End, disguised as a poor inhabitant. He observes and tells us about how the poor in East End live and how they go about their daily chores.Even if not everything in the book is considered trustworthy the stories tell us a lot of the persistence of social inequality in Britain. The atmosphere is vividly described and all that happens in the book seems genuine.Besides the stories of different people there are statistics, all showing the misery the working class lived in during the first years of the twentieth century.All together the book is absolutely worth reading, especially if you are interested in the history of England.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Arroyo Seco Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 042901
- Title
- The People of the Abyss
- Author
- London, Jack
- Illustrator
- Photographs Throughout
- Format/Binding
- Blue Cloth
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- No Dust Jacket
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- The Macmillan Company
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1903
- Size
- 8 1/2" Tall
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Bookseller catalogs
- Literature: Twentieth and Twenty-First Century;
Terms of Sale
Arroyo Seco Books
Payment by credit card, check, PayPal or, for orders over $1000, by bank transfer. US Shipping by USPS media mail, at standard rate shown, but large or heavy items may require additional postage. Shipments valued over $200 may be sent with insurance, and/or with signature confirmation required. International shipments sent only by insured USPS mail (Priority Mail or Priority Express Mail or Express Guaranteed). Shipments to the UK may require additional shipping charges to provide insurance as they lack a nationally insured postal system. Sales within California and many other states are subject to sales tax. International shipments may be subject to Customs duties or fees and/or VAT which are the responsibility of the buyer. Postage will not be refunded for unaccepted packages; please review your order for correct addressing.
About the Seller
Arroyo Seco Books
Biblio member since 2013
Pasadena, California
About Arroyo Seco Books
Arroyo Seco Books lists about 26,000 used books in all fields, including physics, art, philosophy, social science, literature, science fiction, etc. We also stock modern and antiquarian prints and other art. Most items are listed in 100 catalogs titled by subject matter, and available on this site. We purchase interesting private libraries. Member of IOBA. Contact: Stephen Clauser, 626-372-3863.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- 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...
- Remainder
- Book(s) which are sold at a very deep discount to alleviate publisher overstock. Often, though not always, they have a remainder...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- 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....
- Top Edge Gilt
- Top edge gilt refers to the practice of applying gold or a gold-like finish to the top of the text block (the edges the pages...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Poor
- A book with significant wear and faults. A poor condition book is still a reading copy with the full text still readable. Any...
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
- 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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