A GORGEOUS COPY OF GRAPES OF WRATH SIGNED BY JOHN STEINBECK
THE GRAPES OF WRATH. Second edition, “First Published in April 1939” and “Second Printing Before Publication” on copyright page. Octavo, original beige cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free end paper. With a perfect Steinbeck signature. Steinbeck adds, “Los Gates” under his signature. Fine in a fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Elmer Hader. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. An exceptional example, without an inscription, and in the year of publication.
John Steinbeck’s classic novel The Grapes of Wrath was intended to personalize the injustice dealt to many migrants on the road during the Great Depression. Steinbeck succeeded in raising awareness, which became the impetus for political activist movements.
“The Grapes of Wrath is the kind of art that’s poured out of a crucible in which are mingled pity and indignation. Its power and importance do not lie in its political insight but in its intense humanity. [It] is the American novel of the season, probably the year, possibly the decade” (Clifton Fadiman). It is the basis for the 1940 John Ford directed film, bearing the same name starring Henry Fonda. It is widely considered as one of the greatest American films of all time. In 1989, this film was one of the first 25 films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Listed by Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of the twentieth century. An American literary landmark, winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
