Cannery Row: Plus Bonus Book: The Short Reign of Pippin the Short
by John Steinbeck
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine+/Near Fine
- Seller
-
Oakland, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (author of The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and East of Eden) Hardcover First Edition - First Printing - Second State Binding - First State Dust Jacket Viking 1945. $2.00 cover price inside front dust jacket flap. First Printing since there is NO subsequent printing information on the copyright page. Second state canary yellow boards with blue lines and lettering on the front and spine. NOT to be confused with the wartime edition in blue boards. (see edition information below)
Fine- in Near Fine unrestored Dust Jacket. A really nice exceptional copy in dust jacket. The book itself is just about fine with very clean pages. Dust jacket is quite clean and bright at the front, and does NOT have any major tears. Typical edge-wear top and bottom spine and rubbing and nicks to the same and at the corners, and some typical soiling to the back of the dust jacket. Overall a very clean and presentable first edition copy of one of the half-dozen major works of Steinbeck.
Note on edition/state: The first edition/first printing of this book appeared in two states, both released simultaneously. The first state has been determined to be buff-colored (somewhat tan-like) boards while the second state is canary yellow. Apparently, during production, the printers ran out of the buff/tan materials for the boards, and to meet the publishing deadline, yellow colored materials were brought in and used for the rest of the print-run. Purists collectors will contest the buff-colored boards are the most preferable. However, they really represent at best simply two states of the first printing (not two printings as further printings would be indicated subsequently because the book was popular) since copies of both states were released simultaneously in 1945. At the time, buyers would have had about a 50-50 chance of purchasing either the buff or yellow boards of these copies. Typically, first state copies of the buff-tan variety in near fine or better dust jackets are priced at $2000+, while the yellow boards, as offered here, can be had for a fraction of the price. Everything else, the pages, the dust jacket price, etc, are the same. As a collector, I am more interested in the condition of the dust jacket rather than whether the boards are first or second state. Shortly thereafter, a so-called wartime edition was issued in blue boards. The wartime edition, while a good reading copy, has essentially almost no premium value on the collectors market.
NOTE: All modern books with dust jackets come with dust jacket covers.
ALSO: The pictures are of the actual item for sale. (The pictures are NOT stock photos.)
Synopsis
Cannery Row is the waterfront street in the New Monterey section of Monterey, California, USA. It is the site of a number of now-defunct sardine canning factories. The street name, formerly a nickname for Ocean View Avenue, became official in January 1958 to honor John Steinbeck and his famous novel Cannery Row.
Reviews
After 25 years since the last time I read this book, its like being back on Cannery row all over again- the smells, the sounds, they joys and sorrow of the characters.
In this work, Steinbeck put forth some of his finest writing. On the surface, the language and the story seem simple but only deceptively so. There are many subtleties and nuances that lend so much flavor and a sense of presence to this fine work.
This is definitely one of my most favorite books. Highly recommended!
Although John Steinbeck wrote many great works of American literature Cannery Row is my favourite by far. This short tale of the inhabitants of a stretch of industrial property on the coast of California is a rich little comic gem that Steinbeck lifts briefly into the Summer sun so that we might glimpse a society different from, but not entirely unlike, our own.Though it's not socially revolutionary like The Grapes of Wrath, nor the genesis of a Hollywood blockbuster like East of Eden, it is told with such precision and with such affection and respect for its ragtag cast of characters that the reader feels privileged to have met them.Mack and the boys are not bums and drunkards but "gentlemen and philosophers united by a common dislike of a steady job and a mutual feeling for the pleasures of living according to their lights" and Doc, the main character, is "half-Christ and and half-satyr" as he collects his marine and terrestrial fauna for sale to scientific laboratories while unofficially ministering to the sick puppies, lost children and unhappy souls on the Row.You must be somewhat slipshod in your own morals to like this book, it's not for the ramrod stiff among us. As Lewis Gannet wrote: "It does not rank cleanliness next to godliness, and its everyday vocabulary takes four-letter words in its Elizabethan stride". And there are whores, but you must be able to see them as sisters and daughters with dreams of their own, and better places to be in time.And so I invite you, after the busy canneries shut their doors in the late afternoon. Come out with the boys to sit on the rusty pipes in the vacant lot, watch as the girl's emerge from Dora's "for a bit of sun if there is any", cross the street to Lee Chong's for a couple of quarts of beer and take them over to Western Biological to see if Doc is in.
I loved the book, it brings the reader back to a simpler time when the world wasn't participating in the throes of a 40 yard dash.
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Details
- Bookseller
- TristanBooks (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- CanneryRow1st
- Title
- Cannery Row
- Author
- John Steinbeck
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover in Dust Jacket
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine+
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Printing - Second State
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Viking
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1945
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
TristanBooks
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
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About TristanBooks
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Second State
- used in book collecting to refer to a first edition, but after some change has been made in the printing, such as a correction,...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Copyright page
- The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
- First State
- used in book collecting to refer to a book from the earliest run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Reading Copy
- Indicates a book that is perfectly serviceable for reading. It may have a defect or damage. As such, reading copy is not a...