The Long Valley
Viking, 1938. First Edition, First Printing. Cloth. Very Good / Very Good. Item #5250
A First Edition of this Steinbeck classic in the original dustjacket. With "first published in September 1938" on the copyright page. The book is square and solid with an attractive red topstain on the top edges, bound in cream buckram with burn orange cloth covers. With 303 pages, the book shows overall darkening on the covers, edges and endpapers but the interior is quite clean. The endpapers show the aging of the glue used during publication and a previous owner's name. The dustjacket is complete with the original price ($2.50) and a small sales sticker with the same price from the D.W. Robinson Co. in Los Angeles. Overall the dustjacket shows wear and darkening with a split between the spine and back panel held together with (what a previous owner claims is) acid-free tape. We have added an archival plastic dustjacket which protects the integrity of the fragile but original dustjacket. Overall an important book in the original cloth that shows its age and poor quality of publishing materials but still a special copy. Only 8,000 copies of this book were printed.
Even from the start of his writing career, Steinbeck viewed the Salinas Valley not just as a setting, but as a central character in his works. In a 1933 letter to George Albee, Steinbeck wrote:“I think that I would like to write the story of this whole valley, of all the little towns and all the farms and the ranches in the wilder hills. I can see how I would like to do it so that it would be the valley of the world” (Letters, p. 73).
Steinbeck’s deep attachment to the Monterey County landscape informed the symbolic setting in all the short stories collected in “The Long Valley” (1938). Published between “Of Mice and Men” (1937) and “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939), the collected stories in “The Long Valley” help trace Steinbeck’s developing themes that later became the backdrop for “The Grapes of Wrath,” the novel which ultimately won him universal acclaim and transformed Salinas Valley into “Steinbeck Country.” Given their thematic kinship, we’ve found that it’s not uncommon for collectors to pair first editions of “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Long Valley,” considering them companion pieces in their libraries.
Steinbeck’s letters about his spiritual connection to this region are worth reading. In another 1933 letter, this time to his publisher, Steinbeck underscores his almost spiritual connection to the region: “My country is different from the rest of the world. It seems to be one of those pregnant places from which come wonders… I was born into it and my father was. Our bodies came from this soil… our bones came from the limestone of our own mountains and our blood is distilled from the juices of this earth. I tell you now that my country, a hundred miles long and about fifty wide, is unique in the world.”
Steinbeck’s reverence for this landscape continues today through the work of the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, which holds regular community events and exhibitions exploring the terrain that shaped his literary imagination. Steinbeck’s letters about the landscape of his childhood are accessible through the Center for Steinbeck Studies, which also supports literary scholarship and hosts the International Steinbeck Conference. The Center’s 2026 call for literary and scholarly papers, titled Steinbeck in Times of Crisis, continues to explore the relevance of his environmental and social vision.
Steinbeck’s attention to character depth can be traced back to his formative studies at Stanford, where he studied short fiction under Edith Mirrielees.
Price: $625.00 other currencies