I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
Moon is Down, The
New York: The Viking Press, 1942. Item #06586
Steinbeck in Wartime - A Novel of Resistance and Moral Courage
First Edition, First Issue of The Moon Is Down
STEINBECK, John. The Moon Is Down. A Novel. New York: The Viking Press, 1942.
First edition, first issue (with the large dot between “talk” and “this” on p. 112, line 11).
Octavo (7 3/8 x 4 3/4 inches; 188 x 121 mm.). [2, blank], [1–10], 11–188, [2 blank] pp.
Publisher’s blue linen over boards, front cover lettered in blind, spine stamped in silver, top edge stained pale blue.
A fine copy, in a near fine pictorial dust jacket with only minimal rubbing to extremities.
A powerful wartime allegory written at the height of World War II, The Moon Is Down was conceived as a work of morale-building fiction, portraying the quiet but unyielding resistance of an occupied town against an unnamed invading force. Though deliberately universal in setting, its message was unmistakable, and the book was widely circulated in clandestine editions throughout occupied Europe, becoming an important cultural weapon of resistance.
This is the true first issue, with the well-known priority point on p. 112—“talk·this” - a detail of particular importance to Steinbeck collectors.
Copies in such fine condition, especially with a bright, well-preserved dust jacket, are increasingly difficult to locate.
Bibliography:
Goldstone & Payne A16a.
Price: $750.00