THE SAND PEBBLES

New York: Harper & Row, 1962. Near fine in near fine dust jacket.. Scarce inscribed first printing of this gunboat epic set in 1920s China, adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Steve McQueen. Richard McKenna was well-versed in colonial gunboat diplomacy: he served in the US Navy for 22 years, two of which were spent aboard a gunboat on the Yangtze. He did not put pen to paper for THE SAND PEBBLES, inspired by his experiences, until age 46, but the time it had spent percolating was evidently valuable: it earned the coveted Harper Prize in 1962, and was optioned for film to the tune of $200,000. Inscribed copies of THE SAND PEBBLES are quite rare, as McKenna died in 1964, only two years after the book's publication. 8.5'' x 5.5''. Original red cloth boards. Original unclipped ($5.95) color pictorial dust jacket. Fore-edge machine-deckle. Cartographic endpapers of Chinese waterways. 598 pages. Inscribed by McKenna to title page "To Capt. and Mrs. W. H. Farrell, / with very best wishes / Richard McKenna / Mountain Home / 7/27/63." Ink owner name "Capt. & Mrs. W. H. Farrell" to half-title page. Jacket with mild wear. Binding spine ends lightly bumped, top edge of textblock with scattered faint foxing. Interior clean.