The Call Of the Wild
by London, Jack
Jack London’s The Call of the Wild is an anthropomorphic canine’s unforgettable tale of survival. Set during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, the novel’s main character, Buck, a large and powerful St. Bernard-Scotch Shepherd, is stolen from his ranch home in Santa Clara Valley, California, and sold into service as a sled dog. At first, Buck experiences violence and struggles for survival, becoming progressively feral in the harsh environment. By the end, Buck relies on his instinct and learned experience to emerge as the proven leader of the pack.
In The Call of the Wild, author Jack London blends his experience as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness with his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, influenced by the work of Darwin and Nietzsche. Thus, although the novel is first and foremost a story about a dog, it displays a philosophical depth absent in most animal adventures.
In the summer of 1903, the story was first serialized in four installments in The Saturday Evening Post, which paid $750 for it. Soon after, London sold all rights to The Call of the Wild to Macmillan, which published the story in book format in August of that same year. As the first printing of 10,000 copies sold out immediately, it is safe to say the novel was enormously popular from the moment it was published. It has since secured its place in the canon of American literature. Today, The Call of the Wild is still one of the best-known stories written by an American author and has been published in almost 50 languages. The Call of the Wild is ranked 35th on The Guardian’s list of the 100 best novels and 88th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.
First edition identification
Macmillan first published The Call of the Wild in August 1903. Produced in a print run of 10,000 copies, first editions state "Set up electrotyped, and published July, 1903" on the copyright page and contain 10 tipped-in color plates by illustrators Philip R. Goodwin and Charles Livingston Bull as well as a color frontispiece by Charles Edward Hooper. The first printing of The Call of the Wild sold for $1.50. Nowadays, signed copies have sold for upwards of $20,000.
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The Call of the Wild.
by London, Jack
- Condition
- Used
- Published
- 1903
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Palm Beach, Florida, USA
- Item Price
-
$27,500.00
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The Call of the Wild
by London, Jack
- Condition
- Used - Fair
- Jacket Condition
- No Jacket
- Published
- 1903
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Kingston, New York, USA
- Item Price
-
$15,000.00
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The Call of the Wild
by London, Jack
- Condition
- Used
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 1903
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Portland, Oregon, USA
- Item Price
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$2,500.00
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The Call of the Wild
by LONDON, Jack
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Published
- 1903
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Gloucester City, New Jersey, USA
- Item Price
-
$28,500.00
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Call of the Wild
by Jack London
- Condition
- Used
- Published
- 1908 May, June
- Binding
- Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Kalispell, Montana, USA
- Item Price
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$400.00
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THE CALL of THE WILD
by JACK LONDON
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Jacket Condition
- No Jacket
- Edition
- 4th Printing
- Published
- 1915
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Crockett, California, USA
- Item Price
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$85.00
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The Call of the Wild
by LONDON, Jack
- Condition
- Used
- Published
- 1903
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
East Woodstock, Connecticut, USA
- Item Price
-
$7,500.00
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The Call of the Wild
by Jack London
- Condition
- Used
- Edition
- First Edition, Second Printing
- Published
- 1903
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Clarence, New York, USA
- Item Price
-
$300.00
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The Call of the Wild
by LONDON, Jack
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Published
- 1903
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Gloucester City, New Jersey, USA
- Item Price
-
$500.00
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The Call Of The Wild
by Jack London
- Condition
- Used - Good+
- Published
- 1931
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Suwanee, Georgia, USA
- Item Price
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$24.99
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The Call of the Wild
by London, Jack
- Condition
- Used - very good
- Jacket Condition
- Very Good
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Published
- 1903
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Beverly Hills, California, USA
- Item Price
-
$10,000.00
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Call of the Wild (Beaver Books)
by London, Jack
- Condition
- New
- Published
- 1976
- Binding
- Soft cover
- ISBN 10
- 060031913X
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
WESTBANK, British Columbia, CAN
- Item Price
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$8.95
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The Call of the Wild
by London, Jack
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Published
- 1903
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Beverly Hills, California, USA
- Item Price
-
$20,000.00
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The Call of the Wild
by Jack London
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Jacket Condition
- No jacket
- Edition
- 1st ed
- Published
- 1903
- Binding
- Hard cover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Berkeley, California, USA
- Item Price
-
$1,500.00
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The Call of the Wild
by Jack London
- Condition
- Used - Very Good+
- Jacket Condition
- Good+
- Edition
- A Thrushwood Book
- Published
- 1931
- Binding
- Blue cloth binding with black titles and designs in white
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
San Rafael, California, USA
- Item Price
-
$12.00
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The Call of the Wild
by London, Jack
- Condition
- Used - Fine
- Published
- 2014
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
The Woodlands, Texas, USA
- Item Price
-
$500.00
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The Call of the Wild
by London, Jack
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Published
- 1907
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Didcot, Oxfordshire, GBR
- Item Price
-
$649.05
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CALL OF THE WILD - Custom Clamshell Case Only
by London, Jack
- Condition
- Clamshell As New
- Jacket Condition
- No Jacket
- Edition
- Custom Clamshell Case
- Published
- 1903
- Binding
- No Binding
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Montreal, Quebec, CAN
- Item Price
-
$225.00
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THE CALL OF THE WILD
by LONDON, Jack
- Condition
- Used - Slight sunning to the spine. About Fine in a Fine slipcase, not often found in this condition
- Published
- 1960
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, USA
- Item Price
-
$312.50
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The Call of the Wild
by LONDON, Jack
- Condition
- Used - Near fine +
- Edition
- First Edition
- Published
- 1903
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Rocky River, Ohio, USA
- Item Price
-
$2,500.00