The Grapes of Wrath.

STEINBECK, John.

Item Number: 81064

New York: The Viking Press, 1939.

First edition, with “First Published in April 1939” on copyright page and first edition notice on the front flap of the dust jacket. Octavo, original beige cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For Florence Means John Steinbeck.” The recipient was a secretary at The Viking Press, where this title was published. Fine in a near fine dust jacket with light rubbing to the extremities. Jacket design by Elmer Hader. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. A nice example with noted provenance.

"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.