The Natural

New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, (1952).

Price: $7,000.00

Hardcover. First edition. Fine in the gray binding (one of three, with no priority) in a nice, very good or better dustwrapper with several small tears and a small triangular chip at the foot of the spine. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication: "For Hal Jenkins. Cordially Bern. July 1952."

Hal Jenkins was a colleague of Malamud's at the Oregon State College (now University) English Department, as well as a close friend of the family. The book comes from the library of Chester A. Garrison, another colleague and close friend of Malamud's. Garrison didn't meet Malamud until 1954 and apparently acquired this copy from Jenkins. An especially nice copy of the author's first book, perhaps *the* classic baseball novel, and the basis for the Barry Levinson film starring Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, and Kim Basinger.

Item #456456

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Item #456456 The Natural. Bernard MALAMUD.
The Natural

Bernard Malamud
birth name: Bernard Malamud
born: 4/26/1914
died: 3/18/1986
nationality: USA

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Biography

American novelist and short-story writer who made parables out of Jewish immigrant life. - Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literaturemore

Collecting tips:

His 1952 novel The Natural is very eagerly sought after, by both literature and baseball collectors, it came in three different color bindings - red, blue, and gray, with dealers invariably asserting the priority of whatever color copy they happen to have in hand. All of our experience would tend to indicate that there is no obvious priority - frankly we'll note the color of the binding in our descriptions, but we pretty much value them equally. The English edition (1963) is interesting as it offers a glossary for baseball-challanged Britishers that is not in the American edition. The first edition of The Assistant needs to have reviews of The Natural on the rear panel. Fine copies are very uncommon. his 1958 collection The Magic Barrel and Other Stories comes in two issues with no established priority, but collectors seem to prefer the issue from the Jewish Publication Society over the issue from Farrar Straus and Cudahy.

Email us to request a printed copy of our catalog of Bernard Malamud Rare Books and First Editions (or download it via the link as a 1.62 MB pdf file).

We also offer a comprehensive Bernard Malamud Bibliography and Price Guide.more