A best-seller from its first publication in 1903, The Call of the Wild tells the story of Buck, a big mongrel dog who is shipped from his comfortable life in California to Alaska, where he must adapt to the harsh life of a sled dog during the Klondike Gold Rush. The narrative recounts Buck's brutal obedience training, his struggle to meet the demands of human masters, and his rise to the position of lead sled dog as a result of his superior physical and mental qualities. Finally, Buck is free to respond to the "call" of the wilderness. Over a hundred years after its publication, Jack London's "dog story" retains the enduring appeal of a classic.

This Broadview Edition includes a critical introduction that explores London's life and legacy and the complex scientific and psychological ideas drawn upon by London in writing the story. The appendices include material on the Klondike, Darwin's writings on dogs, other contemporary writings on instinct and atavism, and maps of the regions in which the story takes place.

Comments:

"This is the best scholarly edition of The Call of the Wild currently available, with a superb, wide-ranging introduction by Nicholas Ruddick that is a model of judicious lucidity. The edition is also greatly enhanced by a series of fascinating primary documents situating the novella in an array of turn-of-the-twentieth-century cultural contexts, including the Klondike gold rush, Darwin on dogs and men, theories of atavism and instinct, and controversies surrounding charges of plagiarism against Jack London. Highly recommended." - Jonathan Auerbach, University of Maryland

Nicholas Ruddick is Professor of English at the University of Regina. He is the editor of the Broadview Editions of H.G. Wells's The Time Machine and Grant Allen's The Woman Who Did.

Table of Contents: [Back to Top]

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Jack London: A Brief Chronology

A Note on the Text

The Call of the Wild

Appendix A: The Klondike in Reality and Myth

1. Tappan Adney, from The Klondike Stampede (1900)
2. A.C. Harris, from Alaska and the Klondike Gold Fields (1897)

Appendix B: The Animal Story

1. Charles G.D. Roberts, from "Introductory: The Animal Story" (1902)  

Appendix C: Darwin on Dogs and Men

1. Charles Darwin, from The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication (1868)
2. Charles Darwin, from The Descent of Man (1871)
3. Charles Darwin, from The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872)

Appendix D: Outside and Inside Dogs in the Northland

1. Edward Jesse, from Anecdotes of Dogs (1858)
2. Tappan Adney, from The Klondike Stampede (1900)
3. Jack London, from "Husky--The Wolf-Dog of the North" (1900)

Appendix E: Instinct, Memory, Recapitulation, and Atavism

1. Herbert Spencer, from The Principles of Psychology (1855, 1890)
2. Ernst Haeckel, from The History of Creation (1868, 1880)  
3. Samuel Butler, from Life and Habit (1878)
4. Charles Darwin, from The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication (1868)
5. John Myers O'Hara, "Atavism" (1902)

Appendix F: London's First Dog Story

1. Jack London, "Bâtard" (1902, 1904)

Appendix G: Extracts from London's Correspondence

Appendix H: Reviews of The Call of the Wild

Appendix I: The Plagiarism Issue

1. Egerton R. Young, from My Dogs in the Northland (1902)
2. Jack London, from The Call of the Wild (1903)
3. L.A.M. Bosworth and Jack London, from "Is Jack London a Plagiarist?" (1907)
4. From "Against Jack London," New York Times Saturday Review of Books (1907)
5. Egerton R. Young, from letter to New York Times (1907)
6. Jack London, from letter to Egerton R. Young (1907)

Appendix J: Maps

1. Buck's Travels in Space and Time
2. To the Northland
3. Klondike Trail
4. Salt Water

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