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First edition (in boards), second state. Hard cover, 8vo in blue cloth, stamped in blind to front with titles and author within a ruled box, castellated trim, the spine with silver lettering, rules and similar castellated decoration. Blue grey staining top edge of text block. Has Haddon Craftsmen as printers; no typo p.112 line 11. CONDITION: Near Fine with two interior pages having 1/4 inch adhesive "ghosts" (from removal of a micro post it, perhaps?) at outer margin. Otherwise very clean, square, bright and unwritten in. Dust jacket Very Good, with one closed tear bottom edge and a few small chips. Set in an unnamed, snowy European country, this psychological thriller pits a nameless, remote Leader and a small invasionary force of soldiers against the determination of a remote, coastal town in what seems like a very current geopolitical plot scenario. Based on the writer's experience of World War II. It was first adapted to the stage in 1942, appearing at the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway April through June of that year. Drama Critic Burns Mantel of the Daily News summed up the importance of the work thus: "The theater in wartime as well as peacetime offers a vivid reflection of the way of life that our liberties and opportunities, for which we, as free men, are willing to fight and die. It should be proudly sustained." (p 23, The Playbill dot com) REF: Goldstone & Payne A16b. Bradford Morrow Catalogue Eight, "John Steinbeck A Collection... the Harry Valentine Collection," (Santa Barbara: Cunningham Press, 1980) accords with item 150, p. 41.
Ref: LITSTN 9492
$55.00 $49.50