Beschreibung:

Steinbeck, JohnThe Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Press, [1938-39] Folio (317 x 189 mm). 161 sheets, numbered every other page, for total of 324 leaves paginated in pencil in the margin, printed on thin proofing paper on recto only; a few tears and chips, primarily marginal and closed, minor toning, some corners creased, minor dampstaining to lower margin of a few leaves. Publisher's "butcher paper" wrappers, publisher's printed and typed labels to upper wrapper; some soiling, chips to edges, minor loss to two corners. In custom clamshell case, leather label to spine. The rare uncorrected long galleys of a giant of American literature “And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.” — John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Apparently hastily produced, the present "halved" version of the galleys was used for in-house proofing, and was almost certainly formatted thus so that this less cumbersome volume could be distributed to an extremely select pool of reviewers. One of the labels affixed to the upper wrapper gives the publication date of "April 21,1939," with a price of $2.75, and further states: "Confidential. Please do not quote for publication until verified with the finished book." Indeed, according to Morrow, "Even a cursory examination...reveals a number of textual differences between this and the final published version, and undoubtably [sic] a meticulous collation of this text against the published text would uncover further variant passages." On leaf 164, the author's own name is incorrectly given as "Steinback." Steinbeck's own copy was the "first issue" of 161 "un-halved" sheets, but only one example of that earliest format has been offered at auction in the last three decades. It is unlikely that more than half a dozen of the second issue galleys were provided for reviewers, and the format is not listed in Goldstone & Payne, or present in the Viking publishers archive at the University of Texas Ransom Center. When one considers the great American novels, The Grapes of Wrath is often ranked alongside the like of The Great Gatsby and Moby-Dick. Steinbeck's now-iconic novel was read widely upon its initial publication, and its influence remains prevalent, inspiring numerous filmmakers and musicians, including John Ford Steven Spielberg Woody Guthrie, Pink Floyd, and Bruce Springsteen. When Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, it was The Grapes of Wrath that the committee cited for evidence of his achievement. The rare "second issue" uncorrected galleys of one of the greatest American novels. REFERENCEMorrow 103; not in Goldstone & PayneCondition reportCondition as described in catalogue entry. The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The