The call of the wild

New York: Macmillan, 1903. FIRST EDITION. Illustrated by Philip R. Goodwin and Charles Livingston Bull, decorated by Charles Edward Hooper. Original frontispiece tissue guard present. Publisher’s decorated cloth, top edge gilt, illustrated endpapers. Original dust jacket included but front detached, small tear in the center of the frontispiece. Newspaper clippings from 1904-1909 pasted throughout preliminary ad endleaves causing some staining, otherwise a very nice copy with inscription dedicated to “Grace Parrish-Pierce, March 23, 1904. First edition, at least fourth printing, likely fifth (copyright page partially obscured by news clipping, visible printing dates are July, August, and September). Perhaps London’s most famous novel, Call of the wild follows the trials of the sled dog Buck, with fine illustrations and decorations of characters and scenes interspersed with monochrome renderings of the arctic wilderness, which capture the harsh beauty of the novel’s setting.

London (1876-1916) was famous for his gripping novels set in the tundra of northwest North America, a region he was first exposed to in 1897 during the Klondike Gold Rush.

BAL 11876; Woodbridge, 19.