Of Mice and Men.

STEINBECK, John.

Item Number: 140039

New York: Covici-Friede, 1937.

First edition, first issue with the word “pendula” present on page 9 and the dot between the 8’s on p. 88 of Steinbeck’s “marvelous picture of the tragedy of loneliness” (Eleanor Roosevelt). Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and ruling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.

John Steinbeck began Of Mice and Men as a children’s story. “Although the finished novelette does not seem appropriate for children—that intention was obviously abandoned—the simplicity of its style and the clarity and precision of its imagery may well have been prompted by this original purpose… ” (Benson, 326). The result is “a sophisticated and artful rendering of the basic conflict between two worlds: between an idealized landscape and the real world with its pain and anguish” (Literary History of the American West). "A thriller, a gripping tale . . . that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick" (The New York Times).