Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
. The Dark Arena Mario Puzo 1st Ed w/Jkt 1955. Random House, 1955.
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: First Edition. Dust jacket shows moderate wear, tear, chipping, rubbing, and fading on the spine. Name label of former owner on the title page. Pages are clean. Stated first printing.
Seller: Books From California, Simi Valley, CA, U.S.A.
Puzo, Mario. The Dark Arena. Random House, New York, 1955.
Price: US$95.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: This 1953 Random House novel is Mario Puzo's first. An amazing and unexpected find. The hardback is in Very Good + condition wtjh bright red boards, black cloth spine with blue and gold lettering. There is trace rubbing off of the corners. Because it's an ex-library book (from Harvard U) there is a stamp on the front end papers and front and read end inside paper glue residue. The text shows the expected foxing of paper. The The dust jacket is also in Very Good + condition. It is not price clipped, but being placed in a older style clear cover nearly 60 years ago, had 1 cm cut from the lower end edge. See photo for detail.
Seller: Bren-Books, Rockville, MD, U.S.A.
Puzo, Mario. Dark Arena 1ST Edition. Random House, 1955.
Price: US$135.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: New York: Random House, 1955. First edition, first printing. In VG condition with light bumps to bottom corners of boards. Unclipped and mylar-protected DJ is also in VG condition. A fine unmarked copy in a square and tight binding. A lovely collectible copy of Puzo's first book. Mario Puzo won international acclaim for "The Godfather" and his other Mafia novels. But before creating those masterpieces, Puzo wrote his first acclaimed novel The Dark Arena, an astounding story of a war-scarred young American in a battle against corruption and betrayal. . . . After coming home at the end of World War II, Walter Mosca finds himself too restless for his civilian role in America. So he returns to Germany to find the woman he had once loved-and to start some kind of life in a vanquished country. But ahead of Walter stretches a dark landscape of defeat and intrigue, as he succumbs to the corrupting influences of a malevolent time. Now he enters a different kind of war, one in which he must make a fateful decision-between love and ambition, passion and greed, life and death.
Seller: White Square - Fine Books & Art, Easthampton, MA, U.S.A.
Puzo, Mario. THE DARK ARENA. Random House, New York, 1955.
Price: US$150.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: 8vo; 308 pages; Very minor wear and soiling to jacket with a touch of fading to the spine.
Seller: Circle City Books, tucson, AZ, U.S.A.
PUZO, Mario. The Dark Arena. Random House, New York, 1955.
Price: US$175.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First edition. Octavo. Bump at the top of the front board, thus very good in a nice very good dust jacket with a couple of small nicks and tears at the spine ends. Author's first book. A novel about the American occupation of postwar Germany.
Seller: Between the Covers-Rare Books, Inc. ABAA, Gloucester City, NJ, U.S.A.
Puzo, Mario. The Dark Arena. Random House, New York, 1955.
Price: US$200.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Near Fine in a Near Fine jacket, unclipped ($3.50), faded at the spine, lightly soiled at the back panel. Half black cloth with red paper on the boards. Square and firmly bound with a faded top stain, a few stains at the edges, lightly toned pages. The debut novel from the author of The Godfather.
Seller: Carpetbagger Books, Woodstock, IL, U.S.A.
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: New York: Random House, 1955. First Edition, stated First Printing. Octavo; publisher's decorative two-toned cloth in pictorial dust jacket by Ezra Jack Keats, green topstain; [6],308pp. Light shelf wear, jacket spine panel quite toned (as usual), light soil to cloth boards, else a Very Good and sound copy. Bookplate signed by the author laid in. Mario Puzo's first novel, set during the post-War American occupation in Germany. The Godfather did not appear for another fourteen years.
Seller: Capitol Hill Books, ABAA, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Puzo, Mario. The Dark Arena. Random House, New York, 1955.
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: DJ in archival cover. Stated first printing. The original jacket has price of $3.50 and date code 2/55 on lower front flap. Authors first book.
Seller: J. Mercurio Books, Maps, & Prints IOBA, Garrison, NY, U.S.A.
Mario Puzo. The Dark Arena. Random House, 1955.
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: Fine Copy In Like Jacket First Edition Stated $3.50 on Flap. Author's First book Beautiful Copy.
Seller: Jeff Bergman Books ABAA, ILAB, Flemington, NJ, U.S.A.
Mario Puzo. THE DARK ARENA. Random House, New York, 1955.
Price: US$424.95 + shipping
Description: Near Fine in a Very Good+ dust jacket. . Author's first book, preceding his famed "Godfather" series. Stated first printing. The original jacket has price of $3.50 and date code 2/55 on lower front flap.
Seller: Rare Book Cellar, Pomona, NY, U.S.A.
Puzo, Mario. The Dark Arena. Random House, New York, 1955.
Price: US$1295.00 + shipping
Description: SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR on a special, decorative bookplate. A VERY CLEAN, ATTRACTIVE COPY WITH A BRIGHT DUSTJACKET IN NEW, GLOSSY BRODART. 1st printing. NO PREVIOUS OWNER MARKINGS. First novel by the author of The Godfather.
Seller: Books Plus, LLC, Lexington, SC, U.S.A.
Puzo, Mario. The Dark Arena. Random House, New York, 1955.
Price: US$1499.99 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Red and black boards with gilt and blue titles. Stated first printing. Inscribed by Puzo to ffep. Inner hinge separating in spots. Spine ends/corners a bit rubbed. The original jacket in mylar has price of $3.50 and is lightly rubbed/edgeworn. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; Signed by Author
Seller: curtis paul books, inc., Northridge, CA, U.S.A.