Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
STEINBECK, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$100.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Octavo, 349pp. In very good condition, with thin dust-soiling along extremities, including spine, and a small, neat contemporary gift inscription on the front paste-down, else unmarked. A sound, gently worn copy of this early Steinbeck classic, lacking the dust jacket.
Seller: Cleveland Book Company, ABAA, Rocky River, OH, U.S.A.
Price: US$200.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Sunned spine. Brown cloth without jacket. This is Steinbeck's first novel, which originally appeared from a different publisher in 1929. This first edition from the author's friend and editor Pat Covici came out after the success of Tortilla Flat and In Dubious Battle. An appreciative introduction by Lewis Gannett, 'Renegade Founder of the Society for the Abolition of Unnecessary Prefaces.'
Seller: A Cappella Books, Inc., Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.
Price: US$205.00 + shipping
Description: 1st Edition. No Binding. First Edition Clamshell Case. Steinbeck, John. IN DUBIOUS BATTLE. Custom Collector's 'Sculpted' Clamshell Case. New York: Covici-Friede, 1936. Superb Custom Fitted Modern Collector's Clamshell Bookcase [Not A Book] HAND-CRAFTED by our conservation team, each box feature a gilt-stamped spine, an embossed 'sculpted modern design' upper cover inspired by the dustwrapper's vintage illustration. The case is finished inside & out in medium yellow & grey Nuba®. Nuba® is a fine, supple & durable covering with a neutral ph that has the feel of velvety soft Italian Nubuck® leather. An excellent Collector's Custom Case for Steinbeck's First Book. TBCL Web Site photo/link available for OVER 100 generally in-stock titles including many Steinbecks. Book definitely NOT included. Custom Craft available.
Seller: TBCL The Book Collector's Library, Montreal, QC, Canada
STEINBECK, John. In Dubious Battle. Blue Ribbon Books, New York, 1936.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Octavo, 349pp. A very good copy, gently cocked, with a contmporary gift inscription on the front free endpaper. In the scarce dust jacket, good or better, split nearly halfway at the front flap and with some chipping at the extremities. This is what you might call a "first edition thus," being the first Blue Ribbon edition, although the true first edition was published by Covici-Friede earlier the same year. Though Blue RIbbon is a well-known reprint publisher, this volume seems to have become collectible in the dust jacket, which has a wonderful illustration on the front panel depicting a thoroughly Steinbeck-ian gathering of disgruntled workers, whose plight is the thrust of this under-appreciated novel.
Seller: Cleveland Book Company, ABAA, Rocky River, OH, U.S.A.
STEINBECK, JOHN.. In Dubious Battle. New York: Covici-Friede, 1936, 1936.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition. Spotting on the top edge; very good or better in a dust jacket with considerable staining and repair of the spine. All books described as first editions are first printings unless otherwise noted.
Seller: Peter L. Stern & Co., Inc, Newton, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$700.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: hard cover , first edition, second issue in maroon cloth, 1936, blue-grey top stain, using McBride sheets with new title page and intro by Lewis Gannett, presence of McBride bell colophon on last page, last book listed opposite title page "In Dubious Battle", Covici Friede dust jacket showing $2.50 price on front inner flap, black rectangle blocking mispelled "Friede" on jacket spine indicating the rarity of original jacket, no mention of "Of Mice and Men" on jacket front, very good condition in a very good dust jacket, bright illustration on jacket front and spine, three small chips to jacket, a little edgewear to jacket, soiling to back of jacket with a white background, photos offered upon request. Size: Octavo
Seller: Casa Paloma Books, Green Valley, AZ, U.S.A.
John Steinbeck. In Dubious Battle. New York: Covici Friede, 1936.
Price: US$700.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First Edition. First edition. Unclipped dust jacket is in a mylar sleeve and shows heavy wear, tear, chipping and loss. Cover shows minor wear and staining. Contemporary name and inscription of former owner on the front free endpaper. Pages are tanned and clean.
Seller: Books From California, Simi Valley, CA, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici-Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$700.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Good in a Good jacket, unclipped ($2.50), generally toned, chipped at the edges and surface, torn almost completely down the back edge of the spine. Yellow buckram with red and black ink, tidemarks on the boards, front board splayed. Square and firmly bound with a red top stain, clean internally. Steinbeck's novel about apple farmers in California, the account of "how they turn to open and violent revolt--slowly and doubtfully at first, then heroically and with abandon."
Seller: Carpetbagger Books, Woodstock, IL, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede, 1936.
Price: US$781.30 + shipping
Description: IN DUBIOUS BATTLE, Covici Friede, 1936, first edition, a bit of age toning to the fore edge and b.p.e.'s, else a vg+/near fine copy in a just about vg color pictorial dust-wrapper with a small chip to the base of the front dust-wrapper panel, a small fingernail size chip missing from the base of the dust-wrapper spine and a near thumb size piece missing from the upper left corner of the front dust-wrapper panel.
Seller: THE FINE BOOKS COMPANY / A.B.A.A / 1979, ROCHESTER, MI, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede, 1936.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Very good plus with minor soiling to boards and slight shelfwear, otherwise clean and tight. In a very good dust jacket (price clipped) with a bit of chipping at spine ends and corners. An attractive copy of Steinbeck's fourth book.
Seller: Magus Books of Sacramento, Sacramento, CA, U.S.A.
John Steinbeck. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede, 1936.
Price: US$1300.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Yellow cloth, still quite clean and bright. Minor wear at spine extremities and corners. A rather possessive former owner stamped his name on both free and fixed endpapers, otherwise fine. A bit of soiling at one corner. In a beautiful jacket that has had some professional restoration by Ecllipse paper.
Seller: Green River Books, Gainesville, FL, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John.. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede Inc., N. Y., 1936.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hint of dust soil to cloth top edge; very light toning to margins of text pages, otherwise a clean, tight copy. Jacket with moderate soil, most apparent on light yellow back panel; spine a bit darkened; front flap with 2" closed split at fold ends, rear flap with 1" split and a spot of loss at bottom fold end; chips and short closed tears top edge; spine of jacket with two small holes of loss, the largest about 1/4" sq. , and a bit of loss at bottom edge; 2" closed split from spine top edge. In protective mylar wrap. ; Goldenrod cloth lettered in black, ruled in red; top edge stained red; price $2.50 front flap. Goldstone & Payne A5b. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 349 pages; Steinbeck's novel about a strike of migratory apple pickers and the attempts of communists to organize them. A realistic presentation of partisan passions crushing men of good will.
Seller: G.F. Wilkinson Books, member IOBA, GRASS VALLEY, CA, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede Inc., C2a, 1936.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Hardcover. 8vo. Published by Covici, Freide, New York. 1936. 349 pgs. First Edition/First Printing. DJ with price 2.50 has some shelf-wear present to the DJ extremities (light chipping present to the crown of the DJ spine). Bound in yellow cloth with black titles present to the spine and red line decorations present to the spine and boards. Boards lightly rubbed and worn with light soil present to the spine. Bookplate present to the front pastedown, name present to the FFEP. Text is free of marks, binding tight and solid. At once a relentlessly fast-paced, admirably observed novel of social unrest and the story of a young man's struggle for identity, In Dubious Battle is set in the California apple country, where a strike by migrant workers against rapacious landowners spirals out of control, as a principled defiance metamorphoses into blind fanaticism. Caught in the upheaval is Jim Nolan, a once aimless man who find himself in the course of the strike, briefly becomes its leader, and is ultimately crushed in its service. EB; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 350 pages
Seller: Last Exit Books, Charlottesville, VA, U.S.A.
STEINBECK, John [Louis PAUL]. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition. Author's classic novel of labor and social change. Author Louis Paul's copy with his bookplate at front pastedown. "The migratory workers of California's apple country, the story of how they turn to open and violent revolt. Steinbeck's strike is an upsurge of the basic humanity, of the common denominators of hope and desire." Almost Near Fine in Very Good dustjacket, shallow loss at top spine end, piece of scotch tape to exterior of top spine end.
Seller: Babylon Revisited Rare Books, Northampton, MA, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John.. In Dubious Battle.. Covici Friede Publishers, 1936.
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First Trade Edition. Goldstone A5b. A Near Fine copy with no particular faults in goldenrod cloth stamped in black with red horizontal rules, reddish brown topstain, in an original, unrestored Very Good dustwrapper, not price-clipped, with the usual toning to the spine panel, tiny wear to spine-ends, and reinforcement to front spinefold joint. No foxing, soiling, writing or staining. Gutters mildly offset. Text and endpapers clean. 349pp. Steinbeck's labor novel, about a strike in the midst of Depression Era California. Q09736
Seller: Compass Rose Books, ABAA-ILAB, Kensington, CA, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede Inc., NY, 1936.
Price: US$1749.99 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Orange/yellow cloth lined in red, titled in black; slightly faded red topstain. First edition. Board corners mildly frayed. Backstrip a bit softened. Page following full title page has a tear along gutter, from the top nearly halfway down. Pages lightly toned, with a very occasional faint spot. The DJ in mylar with $2.50 flap price intact has a darkened spine and professional restoration. Publisher's book release pamphlet laid in. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall
Seller: curtis paul books, inc., Northridge, CA, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$2000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Minor archival reinforcement to verso of jacket. Jacket bright, with only minor chipping and small tears, wear to folds. Book very good or better, without signatures or bookplates.
Seller: Graver & Pen Rare Books, Midland, MI, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. Cup of Gold. Covici Friede, 1936.
Price: US$2422.75 + shipping
Description: CUP OF GOLD, Mcbride, (1929), first printing of the Covici Friede binding in burgundy cloth, edges of spine extremities and edge of front cover lightened, else just about fine in vg+/near fine first state of Covici Friede dust-wrapper with the publishers name blocked out and then reprinted and spelled correctly on the dust-wrapper spine and WITHOUT mention of OF MICE AND MEN on the front dust-wrapper panel which was (duh) published a year later in 1937 (making any who list this title which has this work printed on the front dust-wrapper panel and then adjudicating it as the correct first state dust-wrapper a most dubious scholar) and with a small chip missing from the head of the dust-wrapper spine, slight fraying to the base of the dust-wrapper spine and some light dust-soil to the rear dust-wrapper panel. Actually a very nice copy of this, the second issue of the first edition sheets of the authors first book bound in maroon cloth with the McBride colophon on the last page of text and released here in 1936. (Not to be confused with the very common later edition (NOT second issue) in blue cloth without the McBride colophon on the last page of text ).
Seller: THE FINE BOOKS COMPANY / A.B.A.A / 1979, ROCHESTER, MI, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede, NY, 1936.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: A bright, tight first edition. A slight darkening of upper edge of boards; pages are clean and snugly bound. DJ is lightly ruffled along edges; original price of $2.50 is penciled through with $1.00 written below; top edge has been reinforced with tape at some earlier date; at present, the book is protected in Brodart; illustration is sharp and colorful.
Seller: Shaker Mill Books, W. Stockbridge, MA, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici-Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing. A spectacular copy. The book is bound in the ORIGINAL publisher's cloth and appears UNREAD. The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning and the boards are crisp. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. A fabulous copy with a beautiful facsimile dustjacket from the original housed in a custom clamshell slipcase.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
STEINBECK, JOHN.. In Dubious Battle. New York: Covici-Friede, 1936, 1936.
Price: US$3000.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition. Signed by the author in 1936; signature a little blotted; a good copy in a worn and mended dust jacket. All books described as first editions are first printings unless otherwise noted.
Seller: Peter L. Stern & Co., Inc, Newton, MA, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$3500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Printing. Book is as new. Publisher's flyer with reviews laid in. Dustjacket has original $2.50 price on front flap. Dustjacket spine has very slight age toning and light edgewear to top of spine area. An excellent copy. Book is protected in a custom cut clear mylar cover. All books are carefully wrapped and shipped in a box.
Seller: Cahill Rare Books, Mission Viejo, CA, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle.. Covici-Friede Publishers, New York, 1936.
Price: US$6000.00 + shipping
Description: Signed limited first edition of this "dramatically intense, beautifully written novel" (The New Republic); the first book in Steinbeck's Dustbowl trilogy, which was followed by Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, number 39 of 99 examples. Octavo, original half morocco. Signed by John Steinbeck. In fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. On publication, New York Times reviewer Fred T. March compared it to the "genial gusto" of the "picaresque" Tortilla Flat. He commented that "You would never know that In Dubious Battle was by the same John Steinbeck if the publishers did not tell you so." He called it "courageous and desperately honest," "the best labor and strike novel to come out of our contemporary economic and social unrest," and "such a novel as Sinclair Lewis at his best might have done had he gone on with his projected labor novel."
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
STEINBECK, John.. In Dubious Battle.. Covici Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$6500.00 + shipping
Description: 349 pp. 8vo, publisher's cloth in glassine wrapper and publisher's slipcase. First edition; No. 52 of 99 copies, signed by John Steinbeck. A fine copy. The glassine wrapper has some chipping to edges and a dime-sized hole to the center of the spine. The slipcase printed paper label is bright. The slipcase is complete but has some wear to the top which has resulted in some narrow areas of missing paper.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
STEINBECK, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$6500.00 + shipping
Description: Full Description: STEINBECK, John. In Dubious Battle. New York: Covici Friede, [1936]. First edition, one of ninety-nine copies signed by the author of which this is number 57. Octavo (8 x 5 3/8 inches; 205 x 137 mm). 349, [3, blank] pp. With the signed limitation page inserted at rear. Original black cloth over grey buckram boards. Spine lettered in gilt. Top edge dyed red. Some minor rubbing to bottom of spine. Previous owner's ink inscription dated 1940 on half-title. In the original black paper slipcase with paper spine label. Some very minor rubbing to slipcase. A bright, fine copy. Goldstone & Payne A5a. HBS 69028. $6,500.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John. In Dubious Battle. Covici-Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First printing. An attractive dustjacket that is rich in color with light wear to the spine and panels. This original dustjacket has the publisher's printed price present on the front flap. The book is in nice shape. The binding is tight with light wear to the boards. The pages are clean with NO marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a lovely copy in collector's condition.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Steinbeck, John.. In Dubious Battle. [Limited Edition].. Covici-Friede, New York, 1936.
Price: US$9450.00 + shipping
Description: #6/99 copies, specially bound in black and light grey buckram, top edge stained rose, in publisher's black paper covered slipcase with spine label, without jacket, as issued. SIGNED by Steinbeck and Numbered on the concluding colophon. Book is Very Fine. Slipcase is Very Good or better, with moderate fading to closed end, minor wear to edges of open end, but sound. 349pp. Enclosed in a custom made clamshell box. Q09641
Seller: Compass Rose Books, ABAA-ILAB, Kensington, CA, U.S.A.