8vo. Original grey cloth, gilt-lettered spine (slight lean, a touch of toning to spine ends); dust jacket (price-clipped, few tiny nicks or chips at extreme ends and fore-corners, few faint scuffs to front panel near top edge); folding case. Provenance: Richard L. Neuberger (1912-1960), American journalist, author, and politician who served in the Oregon House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate (his bookplate, recipient of inscription); David Currey (typed letter of provenance laid in).

FIRST EDITION OF THE AUTHOR'S FIRST BOOK. INSCRIBED BY MALAMUD to the American politician, Richard L. Neuberger: "for daring to lead, with sincere best wishes, Bernard Malamud, Corvallis, Oregon, November 1954. Neuberger was elected to the U.S. Senate the same month.

The Natural, a novel about baseball and the triumphs and failures of its hero Roy Hobbs, was adapted into the 1984 film starring Robert Redford.