Description

A TREMENDOUS ASSOCIATION: FIRST ISSUE OF PEARL BUCK’S CLASSIC THE GOOD EARTH,
INSCRIBED TO HER PUBLISHER AND FUTURE HUSBAND

BUCK, Pearl S. The Good Earth. New York: The John Day Company, (1931). Octavo, original brown cloth, original dust jacket.

First edition, first issue, a fantastic association copy inscribed by Buck on the half title to her publisher and future husband, “For Richard J. Walsh, Pearl S. Buck,” with her Chinese “chop” mark beside her name.

Walsh was a young publisher who published Buck’s first book East Wind, West Wind, and worked closely with her on The Good Earth. He suggested the title for the book, when Buck had decided to name the book after her protagonist Wang-Lung. The book’s success prompted Buck, who was married and living in China, to move back to the U.S. to be near Walsh; after a divorce, they married in 1935. One of the most popular and widely translated books by an American, The Good Earth was awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1932) and the Howells Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1935). In 1938, based largely on the strength of The Good Earth, Buck became the second woman, and the first American woman, to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Buck and Walsh remained married until his death in 1960. The book was adapted for the stage in 1933 and made into a classic film by producer Irving Thalberg, starring Paul Muni opposite Luise Rainer, who won an Oscar as O-Lan. First issue with first issue points (“flees” for “fleas” on p. 100, line 17; top edge stained brown; and “John Day Publishing Company” on copyright page). Pribic 66-70. Book near-fine. Very scarce original dust jacket restored, primarily along spine. A wonderful copy, quite probably the best association copy that will ever appear.