The Ancient Highway — Curwood/Grosset & Dunlap 1925

📖 The Ancient Highway by James Oliver Curwood (1925, Grosset & Dunlap) — a post-WWI wilderness adventure set in the forests of Quebec. This Grosset & Dunlap reprint edition features illustrations by Walt Louderback and is in Very Good condition with clean red cloth boards.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: James Oliver Curwood (1878–1927), American novelist and conservationist
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, New York (reprint of Cosmopolitan Book Corp. first edition)
• Year: 1925 (copyright 1924/1925 by International Magazine Company and Cosmopolitan Book Corporation)
• Format: Hardcover in red cloth, no dust jacket
• Pages: Complete text block | ISBN: None (pre-ISBN era)
• Illustrations: Walt Louderback
• Condition: Very Good — full report below

THE STORY

Set in the years following the First World War, The Ancient Highway follows Clifton Brant, a young Canadian war veteran, as he returns to the vast northern forests of Quebec. What begins as a personal quest for vengeance draws Brant into a bitter logging feud and an unexpected romance with Antoinette St. Ives, whose family controls thousands of square miles of prime timberland. Curwood’s intimate knowledge of the Quebec wilderness — its rivers, forests, and the men who work them — gives the novel its vivid sense of place.

THIS EDITION

This is a Grosset & Dunlap reprint edition, published the same year as the Cosmopolitan Book Corporation first edition. Grosset & Dunlap were prolific reprinters of popular fiction in the early twentieth century, and this copy retains the original copyright plates unchanged. The copyright page carries dates of 1924 and 1925, reflecting the novel’s initial serialization in Cosmopolitan magazine before its hardcover release. A dedication on the opening pages pays tribute to Sir William Price (1867–1924), the Canadian lumber baron and National Historic Person who built a timber empire in Quebec’s Saguenay region and whose death in an avalanche at Kénogami inspired Curwood’s preface.

COVER ART / ILLUSTRATIONS / DESIGN

The book features red cloth boards with black stamped title and decorative border on the front cover. The spine bears the title, author name, and Grosset & Dunlap imprint in black lettering with a small star ornament. Inside, the title page spread includes a black-and-white illustration by Walt Louderback opposite the full title page. Louderback was a magazine illustrator active in the 1920s, and his work here adds period atmosphere to Curwood’s wilderness narrative. All three original plates are present and complete.

WHY IT MATTERS

• One of Curwood’s final novels — he died in 1927, just two years after publication, and his books ranked among the top-ten best sellers in the United States during the 1920s
• Dedicated to Sir William Price (1867–1924), the Quebec lumber baron and National Historic Person whose timber empire in the Saguenay region is directly referenced in the novel’s logging feud
• Curwood built “Curwood Castle” in Owosso, Michigan, and was one of the highest-paid authors of his era — his wilderness novels helped shape popular perceptions of the Canadian frontier

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? A Grosset & Dunlap reprint edition from 1925, using the original Cosmopolitan Book Corporation plates.

What condition is it in? Very Good — clean red cloth boards, minor shelf-wear, tight binding. Full condition report below.

Is it signed? No — the front free endpaper bears a previous owner’s signature dated March 14, 1964, but this is not the author’s signature.

FOR COLLECTORS

Curwood’s novels are increasingly collectible as examples of early twentieth-century American wilderness fiction. This Grosset & Dunlap reprint, while not the true first edition, is a clean, complete copy with intact Louderback illustrations — a solid reading copy or shelf piece for Curwood collectors. The dedication to Sir William Price adds historical interest, linking the novel’s fictional logging world to the real industrial history of Quebec.

CONDITION REPORT

Overall Grade: Very Good (VG)

Cover & Spine: Red cloth boards with black stamped title and borders on the front cover. Minor rubbing to the edges and corners, with light shelf-wear at the spine ends. Spine is mildly sunned, the cloth on the front and back boards is quite bright and uniform all around.

Dust Jacket: Not present.

Text Block & Pages: The outer edge of the text block is relatively uniform, mildly tanned, free from thumbing or spotting, the bottom the block is mostly the same, although near the spine their is a faint moisture make with a hint of color migration from the spine cloth. The upper edge of the block appears to have originally been tinted (green?) but is now quite faded, hint of a moisture stain at outer corner, not visible internally.

Binding: The structure is square and the hinges are tight. The front free endpaper has a neat owner signature in ink dated “March 14, 1964”.

Note: Since this a reprint, and Grosset never made changes to the original plates from the original publisher, the listing of plates does not match where the plates actually are in the binding, but all three are present and complete, just in seemingly random locations in the book.

See accompanying images for full condition details. Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-07-21

1 in stock