The Moon is Down 1942 First Edition Hardcover John Steinbeck

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The Moon is Down 1942 First Edition Hardcover John Steinbeck

Name: The Moon is Down 1942 First Edition Hardcover John Steinbeck
SKU: 24685
Availability: InStock

Price range: $251.00 through $259.50

📖 **The Moon Is Down — Steinbeck’s Wartime Classic, First Edition 1942**
*The novel that inspired resistance across occupied Europe*

**HISTORICAL CONTEXT**

Published March 6, 1942 by Viking Press, The Moon Is Down was written as deliberate propaganda to fuel resistance movements in Nazi-occupied Europe. Steinbeck set the story in an unnamed Northern European country clearly modeled on Norway, and the novel was clandestinely translated into Norwegian, Danish, French, and Dutch for underground distribution. Winston Churchill himself recommended it be airdropped alongside sticks of dynamite to occupied territories. Norway later awarded Steinbeck the King Haakon VII Freedom Cross for this single work.

**THE STORY**

A small coastal town is overrun by an invading army. Colonel Lanser establishes his headquarters in the mayor’s house, but the “simple, peaceful people” of the town settle into what Steinbeck calls “a slow, silent, waiting revenge.” Sabotage, resistance, and the unbreakable human spirit form the core of this 188-page novel-play hybrid, continuing the format Steinbeck pioneered with Of Mice and Men.

**COVER ART AND DESIGN**

The original dust jacket features Frank Lieberman’s atmospheric landscape illustration — a snow-covered village under a dark sky rendered in deep blues and teals, evoking the cold isolation of occupation. The title appears in white serif lettering against the night scene. The blue cloth binding carries a subtle embossed geometric pattern, with silver lettering on the spine reading “THE VIKING PRESS.” The back jacket includes period reviews from the New York Times, New Yorker, and New York Herald Tribune, plus the WWII-era appeal “The Men in the Services Need Books!”

**WHY IT MATTERS**

– First edition, second state — identified by the characteristic “b” with missing upper half on page 62, line 5
– Cover art by Frank Lieberman
– One of Steinbeck’s most historically significant works — the best-known US novel in the Soviet Union during WWII
– Adapted for Broadway (1942) and into a 20th Century Fox film (1943)
– Title borrowed from Shakespeare’s Macbeth

**FOR COLLECTORS**

This copy comes with a custom facsimile dust jacket made by Facsimile Dust Jackets L.L.C., reproducing the original 1942 jacket in every detail. First editions of Steinbeck’s wartime novels are increasingly sought after, and The Moon Is Down holds particular significance as the book that earned its author a military decoration from the Norwegian government.

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**CONDITION:**
This is a “good plus” vintage hardcover in blue cloth wrapped boards. 188 pages.

First edition, second state, as per noted Steinbeck bibliography.
Page 62, line 5 shows the “b” with the missing upper half, indicating first edition, second state.

No writing, no loose, torn or folded page corners. The binding and board hinges are intact, spine somewhat cocked.

The accompanying jacket has been custom made for this book and is an exact facsimile of the original first edition jacket issued in 1942, identical in every detail with the exception of the small lettered logo of the printer at the top of the front flap.

Please see accompanying images for full condition details.

Will ship promptly, carefully packaged, fully insured.

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HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-07-03

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