John Steinbeck – The Red Pony – Vintage Bantam Special Book Club Edition

John Steinbeck's The Red Pony, presented here in a vintage Bantam Books Special Book Club Edition.

Set against the ranch country of California, The Red Pony follows young Jody Tiflin through a series of experiences involving family, animals, loss, and growing up. First published in book form in 1937, it remains one of Steinbeck's best known shorter works and an accessible introduction to his writing about rural California.

This Bantam paperback features distinctive wraparound pastoral cover artwork depicting a boy and horse against the rolling California landscape. The illustration is faintly signed “DKS” at the lower right.

The copyright page records the original 1937 Covici-Friede publication, the 1945 Viking edition, the first Bantam edition of August 1948, and 61 Bantam printings through April 1980. This copy carries the number line 70 69 68 67 and is conservatively described as a later Bantam printing from the early 1980s.

A nice vintage reading copy of a classic Steinbeck work, particularly appealing for its period Bantam cover design and Special Book Club Edition designation.

Condition

Good+ vintage condition. Cover shows expected shelf and edge wear, including rubbing and light soiling, particularly to the rear cover and along the spine and edges. Corners show some wear. Pages have age toning throughout, typical of Bantam mass market paperbacks of this period.