The Caine Mutiny
Garden City: Doubleday, 1951. First Edition. A nearly fine copy in a very good first issue, widely presumed second state, “City Boy”dust jacket, which is very good or a little better. This is nearly always incorrectly referred to as a second issue. Clearly, those copies of the jacket mentioning the Pulitzer Prize are later, perhaps more correctly termed later printings rather than later issues, given that they were probably only on later printings of the book rather than on first printings of the novel. However, it appears to this cataloguer that the attribution of “The City Boy” as opposed to “City Boy” on the back panel preceding relies on conjecture and supposition, a belief seemingly based on copies noting the Pulitzer Prize dropping “The.” This conclusion is possible, even logical, but hardly definitive. It is useful to keep in mind that publishers had little reason to consider the concerns of bibliographers. Publishing practice and the demands of commerce do not necessarily follow logic closely. One thing is certain however: these are variants, but what is also true is that copies with “The City Boy” are scarcer. A valid, but self-serving bit of advice suggests the wisdom of acquiring both. A bookplate signed by the author is tipped in over a previous owner’s inscription on the half-title. A Pulitzer Prize winning novel (a boast on the undeniably later issue dust jackets); basis for the great 1954 film of the same title. It seems to this cataloguer that few novels have been better served by a filmed adaptation than this book. All books described as first editions are first printings unless otherwise noted.
[Book #1895]
Price: $1,000.00