The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre

B TRAVEN

Publication: Chatto & Windus, 1934, London

First British edition. 8vo.Precedes the U. S. edition by one year. The front dust jacket flap says this title has already been published in five different languages. Originally published in Germany, this is the first English language edition. Signed at the top of the front free fly leaf "From Basil / Christmas 1934," and at the top of the dust jacket's front cover as "Creighton." This refers to Basil Creighton the translator from the original "Der Schatz Der Sierra Madre." Set in Mexico in the 1920s, two hard-luck Americans, Fred Dobbs and Bob Curtin, who've been cheated out of their wages from a construction job in Tampico, team up with Howard, a wise old prospector, on a quest for gold in the remote Sierra Madre mountains. ”“Gold is a very devilish sort of thing, believe me, boys. In the first place, it changes your character entirely. When you have it your soul is no longer the same as it was before. No getting away from that. You may have so much piled up that you can't carry it away; but, bet your blessed paradise, the more you have, the more you want to add, to make it just that much more. Like sitting at roulette. Just one more turn. So it goes on and on and on. You cease to distinguish between right and wrong. You can no longer see clearly what is good and what is bad. You lose your judgment. That's what it is.” After fighting off Mexican bandits on the train to Durango, the trio arrives at their destination and eventually discovers a lode of gold in the surrounding mountains. However, Dobbs and Curtin soon become consumed by greed and suspicious of each other’s intentions. They briefly unite with Howard in a plot to kill Cody, a fellow fortune seeker who has arrived in their camp. Shortly thereafter, though, the bandits reappear, and Cody dies in the ensuing gun battle. Meanwhile, Howard saves the life of a local Indian child and returns to the child’s village to be honored. In his absence, the increasingly paranoid Dobbs shoots Curtin. Although Curtin survives and manages to escape, Dobbs later dies in an attack by the bandits, who mistake the bags of gold dust on his burros as sand and dispose of the bags on the outskirts of town. As Howard and Curtin attempt to retrieve the bags, the gold blows away into the desert. The basis for the 1948 Warner Brothers film, directed by John Huston, and starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, and Tim Holt. The movie was nominated for four awards, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor (Walter Huston), and won all but Best Picture. Very good copy in a moderately used dust jacket with light wear to the spine ends and corners, lightly rubbed along front spine fold and front flap fold with tiny nicks and closed tears to the extremities.

Inventory Number: 49963