Grosset and Dunlap 1932
First photoplay edition of KING KONG, with its scarce near fine original dust jacket. Published by Grosset and Dunlap, 1932. Conceived by Edgar Wallace and Merian Cooper. This was the novelization of the screenplay and is considered to be the rarest of the photoplay editions. The book was published slightly before the film was released. The book without the original jacket can be found in prices ranging from $600 to $1000 (depending on condition), yet examples of this book in a similar condition original dust jacket sells for $12,500 and up. It is the rarity and collectability of the jacket which distinguishes the pricing, with the jacket having nearly 12x the value of the actual book. This is the result of the jacket being both fragile, in addition to that dust jackets at the time were intended to be discarded as they were considered as mere advertisements, so as a result relatively few are left available. The original lavishly painted King Kong jacket art is collectible in it’s own right, with the background mixing the New York setting with the dinosaurs of Skull Island. This book comes with the scarce near fine original dust jacket.
The book is in beautiful condition with crisp lime green cloth boards with strong unfaded deep chocolate brown titles to front and spine. Tiny lower spine edge of fading to the cloth. The book has sharp corners with no edgewear. The end papers depict scenes from the photoplay and are clean with no owner names, and no bookplates. The internal pages are clean, with no marks, no stains, no foxing, and appears as unread. The deep chocolate top stain applied by the publisher to the top of the page block is strong. A beautiful, clean book.
The value of this book is in the near fine original dust jacket. The jacket has strong vibrant, vivid colors with but only a slight touch of fading to the spine. This in itself is most unusual as this jacket was very prone to fading, and of the few remaining original jackets having survived, many are found with faded front and rear panels as well as faded spines. The dust jacket has benefited from some restoration to the very outer spine tips by an expert paper conservator and presents as a near fine example. The reverse side of the jacket has the requisite text ads listing the Grosset and Dunlap publications. Stunning, handsome jacket presenting the book beautifully on the shelf. The dust jacket is protected in a new clear removeable archival cover.
A superb example of this title in extremely scarce condition.
