The Caine Mutiny
Garden City: Doubleday, 1951. First Edition. Bound galley proofs, printed on rectos only; bound in plain blue wrappers with the publisher’s label on the front wrapper; minor wear. Measuring approximately 7 x 11 3/4.” In a custom quarter-leather clamshell box. These days, advance copies (sometimes a photocopied typescript) comprise a significant portion of the publicity for a publication, often appearing to outnumber the trade copies issued. This item is the final text of the novel in its earliest printed form. The expensive production of proofs such as this one allowed only a small number of copies prepared for influential reviewers, or for in-house use, such as in soliciting and securing further rights. While no precise number is determined, it is unlikely that more than a handful or two were produced. Basis for the motion picture of the same title, that film, heavily edited and cut as it reportedly was, remains powerful for its script, performances, and dramatic tension. The court-martial scene, close as anti-climactic as it might seem, provokes squirming at Queeg’s breakdown on the stand. The book and the film force us to confront the moral dilemma facing the characters (and by extension, ourselves) in challenging circumstances. All books described as first editions are first printings unless otherwise noted.
[Book #1894]
Price: $2,750.00