The Light of Western Stars — Zane Grey Grosset Dunlap

📖 The Light of Western Stars by Zane Grey (© 1913 Harper & Brothers; this Grosset & Dunlap edition) — a 1914 American Western romance set in New Mexico in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution. This copy is a hardcover in green illustrated cloth with a gift inscription; no dust jacket.

QUICK FACTS

• Author: Zane Grey (Pearl Zane Grey, 1872–1939), best-selling author of the American West
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, New York — “published by arrangement with Harper & Brothers”
• Original publication: © 1913 Harper & Brothers; published January 1914 (Harper & Brothers cloth, K-P)
• Format: Hardcover, green illustrated cloth binding, no dust jacket
• Pages: 25 chapters | ISBN: None (pre-ISBN era)
• Condition: Good+ / Very Good- — full report below

THE STORY

Madeline Hammond, a young New York society woman, arrives in El Cajon, New Mexico to settle her late father’s estate and reunite with her estranged brother Alfred, who has become a rancher. As she learns the range on her own terms, the story widens into a frontier drama: a round-up, a new foreman named Nels Stewart, and smugglers moving contraband arms “for the rebels across the border” during the Mexican Revolution. Grey’s narrative weaves cowboy life, smuggling, and a romance between Madeline and a ranch foreman. The novel closes as the title poem suggests — a romance of the range rather than a thriller.

THIS EDITION

This is a Grosset & Dunlap cloth-bound edition of the Harper & Brothers original, reprinted “by arrangement with Harper & Brothers” — the copy of this book carries the imprint on both the spine and title page. The copyright page reads: “Copyright, 1913, by Harper & Brothers; Printed in the United States of America; Published January, 1914.” The 1914 date reflects the original Harper & Brothers publication, not a 1914 first printing of this G&D binding.

COVER ART / DESIGN

The front cover carries a stylized starlit mountain range in dark green and greyish-green, with the title set in orange-red serif capitals — a design typical of Grosset & Dunlap Western cloth bindings. The spine repeats the title, author, and “Grosset & Dunlap” imprint in the same color scheme. The interior is unillustrated; text pages are lightly toned with age. A gift inscription (“from Irving”) appears on the front free endpaper.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Zane Grey was among the first American writers to build a career on the Western as a distinct genre; his romance plots set against range work helped define the form in the 1900s and 1910s.
• The novel was adapted three times for the screen: a lost 1918 silent (starring Dustin Farnum), a 1930 version, and a 1940 film released under the alternative title “Border Renegade.”
• The El Cajon, New Mexico setting places the story in the borderlands during the Mexican Revolution — a period Grey returned to in other novels.
• The title page credits Grey as “Author of The Heritage of the Desert, Desert Gold, etc.” — two of his most collected works — locating this book in the height of his commercial success.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

Is this a first edition? No. The original first edition was Harper & Brothers (© 1913, published January 1914, K-P imprint). This copy is a later Grosset & Dunlap reprint of that text, “published by arrangement with Harper & Brothers.”

Is the dust jacket included? No. This is a cloth binding without a dust jacket; the jacket is not present.

Is it signed? It is not signed by the author. It does carry a gift inscription on the front free endpaper (“from Irving”).

FOR COLLECTORS

A clean, stable G&D cloth copy of a title Grey fans collect in any binding — the starlit-mountain cover is the visual signature of the imprint’s Western line, and the “from Irving” inscription gives this copy a bit of provenance. A solid reader/collector copy for a Grey shelf.

Book Details

• Author: Zane Grey
• Illustrator: Not credited
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap (by arrangement with Harper & Brothers)
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition Points: Early Grosset & Dunlap reprint, copyright 1914.

Condition Report

• Overall Grade: Good+ (G+)/Very Good- (VG-)
• Cover & Spine: Cloth covers show moderate rubbing to extremities and a little wear to cloth on the board corner tips.
• Dust Jacket: Not present.
• Text Block & Pages: Pages are light-to-moderate age-toned. Binding remains stable and functional. Gift inscription scribed on front free end paper. A couple of the upper corner tips are bent toward the back otherwise no loose, folded or torn pages, no writing aside from mentioned inscription.
• Binding: Square with solid, intact hinges.

See accompanying images for full condition details.

Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-08-19

1 in stock