1 First edition publication information (publisher, place, date, etc.)

Doubleday and Company, Inc. Garden City, NY. 1951

2 First edition published in cloth, paper, or both? If both, simultaneous or staggered?

published in blue cloth

3 JPEG image of cover art from first edition, if available

4 Pagination

255 leaves, pp. (i-viii) ix-xiv (xv-xvi) (1) 2-294 (#s in parentheses are implied but not numbered)

5 Edited or Introduced? If so, by whom?

n/a

6 Illustrated? If so, by whom?

Dust jacket illustration by John Hull. Map illustration on lining by Palacios

7 JPEG image of sample illustration, if available

8 General physical appearance of book (Is the physical presentation of the text attractive? Is the typography readable? Is the book well printed?)

"The Caine Mutiny" is attractively presented in an illustrated dust jacket, showing montage of pictures including a naval battleship in heavy seas, a pretty couple holding hands, and a panicked Naval officer scrambling through papers on a desk as an officer looks on. The text and print are clear, easy-to-read and of an acceptable size for the reader.

9 JPEG image of sample chapter page, if available

10 Paper (Assess the original quality of the paper used for the book. Is the paper in the copy or copies you examined holding up physically over time?)

Despite being slightly yellow, the paper is still very readable after 47 years. It is heavy in weight and the pages are still stiff, very strong and showing no signs of decay.

11 Description of binding(s)

The original blue cloth binding is embossed in silver with the following transcription: By Herman Wouk / The Caine / Mutiny / A Novel of / World War II / Doubleday. Above "Doubleday" is an illustration of an anchor also silver embossed. The binding of the dust jacket contains the continued wraparound illustration from the cover with a palm tree on an island in the South Pacific and several sailors manning artllery stations on a battleship. It includes the transcription on top of the illustration: The / Caine / Mutiny / Herman / Wouk / Doubleday

12 Transcription of title page

The Caine Mutiny / A Novel of World War II / By Herman Wouk / 1951 Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, N.Y.

13 JPEG image of title page, if available

14 Manuscript Holdings

In Columbia University Libraries Gift of Mr. Wouk, 1956 Open to investigators under restrictions accepted by the repository

15 Other (typograpical information from title page, etc.)

1 Did the original publisher issue the book in more than one edition? If so, briefly describe distinguishing features of each (illustrations, cover art, typography, etc.); if not, enter N/A

n/a Doubleday only published one first edition of book.

2 JPEG image of cover art from one subsequent edition, if available

3 JPEG image of sample illustration from one subsequent edition, if available

4 How many printings or impressions of the first edition?

13 printings of first edition in 1951, 290,000 printed.

5 Editions from other publishers? If so, list their dates and publishers; if not, enter N/A

1994: Buccaneer Books 1992, 1979: Little, Brown, and Company 1988: Pocket Books 1987: Naval Institute Press 1978: Pendulum Press, Inc.

6 Last date in print?

1994: Buccaneer Books

7 Total copies sold? (source and date of information?)

From "80 Years of Best sellers, 1895-1975" Hackett, Alice Payne and james henry Burke Total 1951-1975: 2,087,173 Hardbound 1951-1975: 1,696,989

8 Sales figures by year? (source and date of information?)

From "80 Years of Best Sellers, 1875-1975" 1951, #2 Fiction: 236,000 1952, #2 Fiction: 189,000 From "New York Times Book Review" 4/12/53: "...has spent 104 weeks in the top 10 of the Bestsellers list and sold over 1,750,000 copies."

9 Advertising copy (transcribe significant excerpts, briefly identify where ads were placed)

In "Publisher's Weekly" 1/27/51 for Doubleday Crime and Club: "The Caine Mutiny/by Herman Wouk, author of Aurora Dawn./This Panaramic novel of the navy in the/ South Pacific tells the story of a mutiny at the hands of Captain Bligh of WWII. Paul Elder, Jr., a renowned bookseller in San francisco, took out a full page ad in the "San Francisco Chronicle", giving his "personal recomendation" and offering "a refund to any customer who buys the book and does not like it."

10 JPEG image of sample advertisement, if available

11 Other promotion

1/2 page photo in "Publisher's Weekly" vol. 159. of display at a bookstore. The caption reads, " Glenn Hasselroth of the Columbia University Bookstore in New York designed this attractive counter display for Herman Wouk's novel about the navy, "The Caine Mutiny" (Doubleday). Mr. Wouk is a Columbia alumnus, former editor of the Court Jestor.

12 Performances in other media? If so, list media, date, title, production information; if not, enter N/A

"The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" a play wriiten by Herman Wouk in 1954 has been performed all over the country including a succesful Broadway Play, starring Henry Fonda, Jonh Hodiak amd Lynn Nolan. "The Caine Mutiny" a feature-film produced by Stanley Kramer, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Humphrey Bogart, Fred MacMurray, Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson and Lee Marvin. The film was released by the S.G.S. Corporation in 1954 and released on Columbia Tri-Star Home Video in 1987. "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" aired for television in 1988. Produced by Ray Volpe and Joseph Wouk, directed by Robert Altman, the tv movie starred jeff daniels and Peter Gallagher.

13 Translations? If translated, give standard bibliographic information for each translation. If none, enter N/A

(11 listed) French: Ouragen sur le "Caine", trans Jean Rosenthal. Paris: Phebus,1996. Spanish: El Motin del caine. Barcelona: 1968, Brugera. Italian: L'Ammutinamento del "Caine". Milan: 1952, Rizzoli. Japanese: Gunpo Kaigi. Tokyo: 1953, Kobunsha. Chinese: Hua Pien. trans by Roucheng Ying Pei-Ching, China: 1988, Wen Hua i Shu Pan She. German: Die Caine War ihr Schicksal. Stuttgart: 1980, Bertelsmann Club. Muiteris op de Caine, trans by J.F. Kliphuis. Laren, N.H.:1970, Luitingh. Hungarian: Zendules a caine hadihajon. Budapest: 1973, Zrinyi Katonai Kiado. Romanian: Revolta de Pe Caine. Bucharest: 1990, University of. Sweedish: Myteriet pa Caine. Stockholm: 1973, Forum. Polish: Bunt Na Okrecie. Warsaw: 1991, Agencia Wydaunicza "petra"

14 Serialization? If serialized, give standard bibliographic information for serial publication. If none, enter N/A

Selected by Reader's Digest Condensed Books before publication. also selected by Doubleday's book club, The Reader's Guild and the Book-of-the-Month Club, although not serialized.

15 Sequels/Prequels? Give standard bibliographic information for each. If none, enter N/A

n/a

1 Paste your biographical sketch here (maximum 500 words)

Herman Wouk Herman Wouk, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for literature for "The Caine Mutiny" has authored nine novels, including at least five bestsellers, and three plays since 1943. He is currently retired and living with his wife in Washington, D.C. He has not published since 1978. Born on May 27, 1915 in New York City to Abraham Isaac and Esther Levine Wouk, Herman was raised Jewish in the Bronx. His parents both immigrated to the United States from Russia. Wouk attended Townsend Harris High School from 1927-1930 and later graduated with a B.A. from Columbia University in 1934 with honors, majoring in Comparative Literature and Philosophy. He published his first writing for a college humor magazine, the Columbia Jester, of which he eventually became editor. Next, Wouk started work as a radio comedy writer for Fred Allen and later produced and wrote radio shows promoting U.S. treasury bonds. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942, serving as a deck officer on the destroyer/ minesweeper U.S.S. Zane in the Pacific for three years before becoming the Executive Officer on the U.S.S. Southard at Okinawa. It is here where he undoubtedly imagined the material for many of his novels. In fact, he began his first book, "Aurora Dawn" out at sea. In 1947, Wouk, at the age of 32, published his first novel, "Aurora Dawn" (New York: Simon and Schuster) and married Betty Sarah Brown, who converted to Judaism. They had three children, Abraham Isaac, Nathanial and Joseph. Unfortunately, his oldest son drowned shortly before his fifth birthday in 1951. Wouk's other works include: "The City Boy" (NY: Simon and Schuster, 1948), "The Traitor" (NY: French, 1949), "The Caine Mutiny" (Garden City: Doubleday, 1951), "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" (GC: Doubleday, 1954), "Marjorie Morningstar" (GC: Doubleday, 1955) "Slattery's Hurricane" (NY: Permabooks, 1956), "Nature's Way" (GC: Doubleday, 1959) "This is My God" (GC: Doubleday, 1959), "Youngblood hawke (GC: Doubleday, 1962), "Don't Stop the Carnival" (GC: Doubleday, 1965) "The Lomokome Papers" (NY: Pocket Books, 1968), "The Winds of War" (Boston: Little, Brown, 1971), and "War and Remembrance: (Boston, Little, Brown, 1978). Besides the Broadway, Hollywood feature film, and television version of his famous work, "The Caine Mutiny", he wrote a screenplay for "Slattery's Hurricane" and a television script for an ABC mini-series, based on his book, "The Winds of War" which aired from February 6-13, 1983. Wouk's manuscripts and some of his personal writings can be found at the Columbia University Library, a gift of Mr. Wouk, and can be viewed with the permission of the repository.

1 Paste contemporary reception history in here (maximum 500 words)

The Caine Mutiny was generally warmly received by critics and the public. While remaining on the bestseller list for over two and a half years, it also received the Pulitzer prize for literature and was noted for its realistic portrayal and detail of naval life in addition to its compelling characters and storyline. One major fault, however, was consistently pointed out: Wouk's overly sentimental romance between Willie Keith and the under developed Mae Wynn. Overall, reviewers praised Wouk's third effort and recommended it to read. Edward Weeks of Atlantic Monthly felt that "It has the time sense, the enormous boredom, the sense of being hopelessly isolated and cut off from home, which every veteran remembers; it has the scope and the skill to reveal how men are tested, exposed, and developed under the long routine of war; finally, it has the slow-fused but inevetibly accumulating tension of the Mutiny which gives both form and explosive climax to the story." Kelsey Guilfoil of the Chicago Sunday Tribune praised "The Caine Mutiny" for being "a real story, not a drab and wearisome account of the extracurricular activities of the service man-wenching and drinking and malicious scuttlebutt talk." Most reviewers also pointed to Wouk's stylistic improvement over his two previous works. W.K. Harrison wrote in the Library Journal that "superb writing and deft characterization make this the most exciting sea story since "Mutiny on the Bounty," and E.L. Acken of the New York Herald Tribune Book review called it "a provacitive book, full ofauthentic people and atmosphere." Lee Rogow of "The Saturday Review of Literature" seemed to capture the novel's contradictions as a great sea depiction and conflict and poor love story. "As a novel of how the ninety-day-wonder found his manhood and his girl "The Caine Mutiny" misses by a long sea mile, But as a modern sea adventure it is absolutely first-rank reading." The following is a list of reviews: 1) Edward Weeks, Atlantic Monthly: 4/51 and Booklist: 4/15/51 2)Riley Hughes, Catholic World: 9/51 3)Kelsey Guilfoil, Chicago Sunday tribune: 3/18/51, p.3 and Cleveland Open Shelf: 5/51 , p.12 4)W.K Harrison, Library Journal: 3/15/51 5)Elizabeth Jenkins, Manchester Guardian: 10/26/51, p.5 6) J.D. Scott, New Statesman and Nation: 3/18/51 7) E.L. Acken, New York Herald Tribune Book Review: 3/18/51, p.6 8)Harry Gilroy, New York times Book Review: 3/18/51, p.5 9) New yorker: 3/24/51 10)Don pitt, San Francisco Chronicle: 3/25/51, p. 19 11) Lee Rogow, Saturday Review of Literature: 3/31/51 12) R.D. Charques, Spectator: 11/2/51 13) Richard Henchey, Springfield Republican: 5/20/51, p.9b 14)Time:4/19/51 15) London Times Literary Supplement: 11/9/51, p.705 16)Spencer Brown, Commentary: American Jewish Commentary, v.13: 1952, p.595 17) Frederic I. Carpenter, "Herman Wouk and the Wisdom of Disallusion", English journal: 1/56, p.1-6, 32

2 Paste subsequent reception history in here (maximum 500 words)

Unfortunately for Wouk, subsequent criticism has treated "The Caine Mutiny" less kind than his contemporary writers. Whereas critics in the early fifties praised his realistic portrayal of naval sea life and the complex conflict that he concocted, later reviewers panned the work because he did not use some of the prevailing techniques of the day. For example, Frederic Carpenter wrote in the English Journal (1/57) that "The Caine Mutiny" is a straightforward realistic novel in the tradition of W.D. Howell and Sinclair Lewis...It rejects the whole modernist tradition from Joyce to Faulkner, which emphasizes ambiguity, the stream of consciousness, distortion of the time sequence, verbal violence, and similar devices." Granville Hicks wrote in the New York times Book Review (11/14/71, p. 45) that "it is not merely in subject matter and method that Wouk reminds me of Upton Sinclair. There is the same indifference to quality, the same reliance on cliches and broad casual strokes. I would not make so much of the commonplaces, the akward phrases and the cookie cutter descriptions if they were not symptomatic of a greater weakness: the faulures of Wouk's style to betray the failures of his imagination. Like Sinclair, he writes Journalese, and he never rises far above that level. His characters are never human beings." It is as if Hicks is critisizing Wouk for some of the very qualities that reviewers praised before: his portrayal of naval men without obscenity, profanity and four-letter words. Stanley Edgar Hyman gives perhaps Wouk's harshest indictment in a piece, "Some Questions about Herman Wouk" in his book, "Standards: a Chronicle of Books of Our Time" where he writes, "Is there really nothing good about "The Caine Mutiny"? Nothing. It is the most fraudelent and worthless novel I have read in many years. Peyton Place is more honest." However, most of today's criticism of "The Caine Mutiny" surfaces in response to the still-produced "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial," Wouk's play version of his book. The reviews are very positive as noted in J.D. Thornton's review, "Caine Mutiny- not the usual war story" in The Boston Globe (3/25/90) and Joe Pollack's "Wouk's Caine Mutiny:Haunting Cerebral Theater" in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (4/04/91)

1 Paste your critical analysis in here (maximum 2500 words)

Herman Wouk's third novel, "The Caine Mutiny" depicts the transformation of a young sailor, Willie Keith, into the commander of the U.S.S. Caine, taking over for a paranoid Captain Queeg and his eventual court-martial. But the novel tells more than just one man's coming-of-age; like Herman Melville's Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, Wouk questions man's sanity through the paranoid Queeg and also asks what man's responsibility is to each other. If the fast-paced adventures in the South Pacific were not enough, the author weaves a tale of romance between Keith and a night club singer. In a gripping novel about life aboard an old US Navy minesweeper, the U.S.S Caine, a tough-nut veteran, Captain Queeg takes command and immediately sets about tightening up the ship's bored and relaxed crew with their shirt tails hanging out and faces unshaven. Edward Weeks of Atlantic Monthly felt that "It has the time sense, the enormous boredom, the sense of being hopelessly isolated and cut off from home, which every veteran remembers; it has the scope and the skill to reveal how men are tested, exposed, and developed under the long routine of war; finally, it has the slow-fused but inevitably accumulating tension of the Mutiny which gives both form and explosive climax to the story." Queeg's officers begin to question his ability to command after he makes some dubious mistakes and blames other people for them, refusing to admit he was wrong. The officers take exception and their resentment increases when they are ordered to tear the ship apart to look for an ethereal icebox key after some strawberries are found missing. Queeg is certain that someone had to have a key! We are left to wonder if he really is a bit nutty or maybe he is just trying to run a very tight ship in every possible way. (Although missing strawberries seem a bit excessive!) Things come to a head when in a brutal typhoon, the ship is in danger of foundering and Queeg is barking orders to steer one way while his Executive Officer (XO), Keith (Wouk was an XO as well) believes they should steer the other way, thinking it the safer option. Queeg freezes in the tension of the moment and does not seem to know what to do. In that instant the Keith assumes command, backed up by the officer on deck. They sail the ship into safety but a trial ensues once back in port and the two officers are charged with mutiny, punishable by death.The court-martial finale ruthlessly strips down the main characters. After which they suddenly seem very small and wonder if what they did was right and maybe they were to blame for the captain's paranoia. Wouk wrote his novel based on his own experiences aboard the destroyer-minesweeper Zane and the minesweeper U.S.S. Southard. After acquiring Harold Matson, "one of the best agents in the business," according to John Tebbell in his book "History of Book Publishing in the U.S.," Wouk was turned down by two publishers. They were apparently turned off by Matson asking for a rather large $20,000 advance, the mild success of Wouk's first two books, and were convinced that the public wanted to forget the war rather than read about it. Fortunately for Wouk, Lee Barker at Doubleday accepted the book although he would later say, "I thought it was a gamble. But I thought that it would be a major book club selection and that it would sell around 50,000 copies. I was wrong on both counts." Published by Doubleday on March 17, 1951, The Caine Mutiny was generally warmly received by critics and the public. Most reviewers pointed to Wouk's stylistic improvement over his two previous works. W.K. Harrison wrote in the Library Journal that "superb writing and deft characterization make this the most exciting sea story since "Mutiny on the Bounty," and E.L. Acken of the New York Herald Tribune Book review called it "a provocative book, full of authentic people and atmosphere." However, it was not an overnight success. According to the New York Times Book Review, the book sales were "ordinary " for the first three months before catching fire over the Summer. In a Book Review interview, Wouk said, ""The Caine Mutiny" didn't hit the top of the bestsellers list for a good many months after publication. By that time the advertising push and the influence of the favorable reviews had lost their steam. The publishers tell me it was unique for a book to push on up there after so long a time. Naturally, it's very pleasing to me. Word-of-mouth comment by readers must have done it." After being turned down by several book clubs, Reader's Digest Condensed Books chose it and it slowly began to sell. Doubleday was so desperate to sell the book after its large investment that they began to offer bookstores free copies if they purchased a certain number of copies. But a peculiar endorsement out west perhaps ignited the "spontaneous combustion," as the New York Times Book review described it. "The Caine Mutiny" first became a bestseller in San Francisco, when the city's best known bookseller, Peter Elder, Jr., of Elder's, took out a full page advertisement in The San Francisco Chronicle to give his personal recommendation and "offered a refund to any customer who bought the book and didn't like it." Wouk's theory that the public's excitement for the book drove its sales seems true. It would go on to sell 236,000 copies in 1951 and another 189,000 in 1952. "The Caine Mutiny" remained on the bestseller list for over two and a half years, also receiving the Pulitzer prize for literature. By 1975, it had sold over two million copies and is still in-print today. The fact remains that to explain the popularity of "The Caine Mutiny," one needs to examine some of the other books on the bestseller lists of 1951 and 1952. People were very interested in stories set against the backdrop of their time and specifically World War II. Just seven years after the end of World War II, four of the top ten fiction bestsellers were war books. "From Here To Eternity", an army novel by James Jones topped the list along with "The Caine Mutiny" in second and Nicholas Monsarrat's "The Cruel Sea" and John P. Marquand's "Melville Goodwin, U.S.A." in sixth and seventh respectively. "From Here to Eternity" is a similar novel in that it depicted an army unit in conflict, in their case, just before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Just as Wouk wrote several other "war" books, Jones' novel was the first in a trilogy. The most glaring difference between the two book is that "From Here to Eternity" caused an uproar because of its vulgarity and Wouk's was praised for his soldiers' tasteful dialogue and behavior. But "The Caine Mutiny[?s]" popularity outstretched the desire for people to read books about the war as it became the only repeat bestseller and only book about the war, still in second place, the following year in 1952. "The Silver Chalice" by Thomas B. Costain headed the list. Reading books set in World War II as a trend was over, but "the Caine Mutiny " would stay on the best seller list for over 130 weeks. One reason may be because it was noted for its realistic portrayal and detail of naval life in addition to its compelling characters and intriguing and adventurous storyline. Overall, reviewers praised Wouk's third effort and recommended it to read. Many readers found it refreshing and skillfully done that Wouk was able to so effectively nail down Naval life, dialogue and the experience with such vivid clarity without using obscenities. America in the 50's was still very sensitive to four-letter words and profanity. Although the typical wartime soldier cussed, people did not necessarily want to have to read it or especially have their children read it. Kelsey Guilfoil of the Chicago Sunday Tribune praised "The Caine Mutiny" for being "a real story, not a drab and wearisome account of the extracurricular activities of the service man-wenching and drinking and malicious scuttlebutt talk." Nash Burger from The New York Times Book Review noted that, "The Caine Mutiny" got up there [bestseller list] too, without the lurid incidents and the flood of four-letter words that have marked some war novels." Apparently, Americans grew tired of the gruff, foul-mouthed and poorly behaved image of the U.S. soldier and embraced Wouk's officer's tough dilemmas that caused them to think instead of swear. Wouk said that not using profanity was "a problem I met on page one and faced up to. Sure there are a lot of four-letter words used in and out of the Navy. But I think you can report conversations realistically without going overboard on the obscenity. It's just a matter of taste. Many writers, Twain, Conrad, even Hemingway, for example, have set down convincingly the dialogue of characters who you know must have used four-letter words constantly, but the words are not recorded. Their talk is real, though." In addition to these factors, the real U.S. Navy was very proud of Wouk's depiction in "the Caine Mutiny." Wouk said, "I've had letters from admirals, letters from people in War College, letters from ordinary sailors. All say the book is a fair picture of the Navy. Nobody has bawled me out. I just wrote about the Navy as I knew it." Not only did the Navy not "bawl" him out, but the Navy sent Wouk a letter of congratulations upon receiving the Pulitzer Prize. "Congratulations from the Navy and from this office in particular on a high honor well-earned," signed Rear Admiral R.F. Hickey, Secretary of the Navy. The Navy's endorsement of his work must have aided his book's popularity within the army and for so many children who looked upon those soldiers as heroes. After the novel fell off the bestseller list, the release and success of "The Caine Mutiny" feature film in 1954, directed by Stanley Kramer and starring Humphrey Bogart undoubtedly boosted its popularity ad kept its sales and readership high. The movie received seven Academy Award Nominations, including Best Picture, Actor (Bogart), Supporting Actor (Tom Tully) and Screenplay (written by Wouk). Wouk also adapted his book into a play, "The Caine Mutiny Court-martial" which debuted on Broadway and has appeared all over the country in playhouses and repertoires. The play version still plays frequently as it remains a favorite of Acting troupes and helps keep people interested in the book. Its adaptation into a TV movie aired in 1988, starring Jeff Daniels and Peter Gallagher. The fact that it is still being produced and watched proves its timelessness. Not just a book for the 50s, Wouk's ability to raise broader questions about mankind keep it fresh. Only recently, 1n 1995, a movie, "Crimson Tide" adapted Wouk's mutiny-at-sea theme in a modern context, but reusing many of "The Caine Mutiny[?s]" moral responsibility themes. Lee Rogow of "The Saturday Review of Literature" seemed to capture the novel's shortcomings as a poor love story and its power as a great sea depiction and conflict "As a novel of how the ninety-day-wonder found his manhood and his girl "The Caine Mutiny" misses by a long sea mile, But as a modern sea adventure it is absolutely first-rank reading." Wouk did not help (and probably hurt) the promotions of his books as he remained a private and guarded citizen, only occasionally granting interviews. He never sought the limelight or attention that goes with being "one of the most successful novelists of the next thirty years [50s,60s,70s]," but rather avoided the national media stage. The Associated Press reported on May 24, 1951 that "He chose to dodge his publication date in March by taking his family to Mexico for two weeks?It wasn't until his return that he was told, by his mother who met him at the station there, that the daily reviewers were praising it with no reservations." Nash Burger, of the New York Times Book Review described Wouk as "a youngish, amiable, easy-talking fellow?looking more like the undergraduate editor of the Columbia Jester (which he once was) than a former writer for the Fred Allen Show or naval officer in World War II or?author of the current bestseller "The Caine Mutiny."" Several years later, the same publication wrote "and what about Mr. Wouk? He's in relative hiding. He's been working hard and has a new novel nearly finished?" The success story that is "The Caine Mutiny" occurred because of the harmony of Wouk's masterpiece which did not need a public author, the right readers at the right time to enjoy it and appreciate its dilemmas, and an effective use of other mediums to carry on its tradition into the present, nearly fifty years later to make it a timeless classic.