John Barleycorn

John Barleycorn (1913) by Jack London is an autobiographical account of his lifelong relationship with alcohol, tracing his first encounters with drink as a young boy through decades of heavy use and repeated attempts to quit. Written with characteristic directness, the book is less a temperance tract than an honest examination of alcohol's grip on a particular kind of masculine social life, and of how thoroughly London understood his own situation without being able to change it. Originally published by The Century Company in 1913. This is an early Grosset and Dunlap reprint, apparently using the same plates as the first edition, and predating 1920 based on the owner's inscription.

Hardcover. Early Reprint Edition. Octavo, red cloth, stamped in black on front and spine. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, [ca. 1919]. #11423.
Previous owner inscription dated 1919 inside. Minor rubbing to the edges of boards, else near fine in near fine dust jacket, matching artwork from the first edition.