The Jungle.
“They use everything about the hog except the squeal": First Edition of Upton Sinclair's Classic The Jungle; Signed by Him
The Jungle.
SINCLAIR, Upton.
$4,000.00
Item Number: 142977
New York: The Jungle Publishing Co, 1906.
First edition of this classic political work, from the self-published sustainer’s edition. This issue was published simultaneously to the Doubleday edition with the sustainer’s edition label on the front pastedown. Octavo, original green cloth, 3 pp. publisher’s ads at rear. Boldly signed by Upton Sinclair on the front free endpaper. From the library of writer George Sylvester Viereck and stamp of Carl E. H. Greab M.D. In very good condition.
The Jungle is a 1906 novel by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair. Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. The book depicts working-class poverty, the lack of social supports, harsh and unpleasant living and working conditions, and a hopelessness among many workers. These elements are contrasted with the deeply rooted corruption of people in power. Sinclair was considered a muckraker, or journalist who exposed corruption in government and business. In 1904, Sinclair had spent seven weeks gathering information while working incognito in the meatpacking plants of the Chicago stockyards for the newspaper.