The Grapes of Wrath [ Complete True First ]

John Steinbeck

New York City: Viking Press, 1939. Illustrated by Elmer Hader. First Edition. Hardcover. Book in Near Fine condition and displays all first edition points / Dust jacket in Very Good+ condition and displays all first edition points. Item #4960

A first edition, first issue in collectible condition. The volume appears to be Near Fine and the complete first edition jacket appears to be Very Good+.


Dust jacket is complete with price of $2.75 to upper right of front flap and blue ink "First Edition" to lower right of front flap. A one inch closed tear to lower left of cover, close to spine. Chipping to the top/bottom of dust cover spine along with wear and wrinkling to outer edges.Sunning to spine. "The Long Valley" blurb on back flap, along with price of "2.50" and 5 review blurbs. The clipped corners are publisher issued. Still bright and clean and in Very Good+ condition.

First edition, first issue with "Copyright 1939 John Steinbeck/First Published in April 1939" on copyright page. Book is tightly bound with no cocking or leaning. The interior is clean with bright text body. The paste down edges show some discoloration in the area that the publisher applied glue; a common feature to this edition. Decorative linen boards are clean and fabric shows no fraying. Very rare foxing to interior pages; outer page edges do show some darkening. Sharp corners and tight binding (no lean or bumps, etc). End pages and paste down pages display "Battle of Hymn of the Republic" -- image is still bright.

It took Steinbeck just 100 days to write this modern classic. He gave himself a 10,000-word per week goal and told a friend he'd never worked so hard on a novel before, hoping to shred his "reader's nerves to rags."

Collectors frequently strive to enrich their legacy libraries by acquiring first editions of contemporary classics. These initial printings are prized for encapsulating the authentic essence of a novel's inception, presenting the text in a format untouched by subsequent revisions or alterations. This pursuit allows collectors to obtain the most genuine version of a novel, preserving the original nuances and quirks, even errors, by the author. For instance, first editions by literary figures such as Mark Twain, Bill Clinton, and J.K. Rowling often feature errors that were later corrected in subsequent printings, deviating from the unique characteristics of the initial impression.

Out of stock