Dragon Seed

New York: The John Day Company, 1942. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Very Good/Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. A tale of Chinese peasants living in a village near Nanking and their lives before and after the Japanese assault. A SCARCE first printing. Aside from a name and a 1.5" personal library seal on the front free endpaper, this is a clean copy with no other writing, marks, underlining, or bookplates. The pages and endpapers are moderately browned, as are the textblock edges, though the upper edge remains a deep blue. There may be a hint of foxing here and there. The spine is relatively tight and crisp, given its age, and the corners are square.The boards are flat and true and show only minor wear/bumping, just some very light soiling and some fading to the brown cloth and gilt lettering. This is not an ex-library copy. Dust jacket is not price-clipped (price is $2.50) but does have some flaws including a 2" by 1" tear to the upper left corner of the front cover. The edges are also quite worn with numerous 1/4" to 1/2" tears and chips. The back cover is browned along the edges, and there may also be some light foxing/soiling. The inside cover along the spine is also a bit foxed/soiled, and the spine itself shows some sunning, though the writing is still quite legible. This highly collectible, very good/good, first edition/first printing copy is protected with an archival mylar dust jacket cover. Satisfaction guaranteed!