The Short Reign of Pippin IV: A Fabrication.

STEINBECK, John.

$4,800.00

Item Number: 145697

New York: The Viking Press, 1957.

First edition of Steinbeck’s only political satire. unrevised proof copy, signed presentation inscription from the author “Dear Elsie Clough: This book was ghost written in the truest sense of the world. An imp crept down my arm and played in the ink. Don’t turn me in please Yours John Steinbeck.” on front inner wrapper, 2 autograph corrections to the labels including the publication date corrected from March to April, and the price corrected from $2.95 to $3.00, original spiral-bound wrappers, some snapped, edges toned and creased, a little marked, tall 8vo, [1957]. A true unrevised copy (the title character’s name is spelled “Peppen” on p.1.) Elsie Clough ran The Book Shop in Providence, Rhode Island from 1922 to 1963 (her last day of business was November 22). Steinbeck may have been rewarding Clough and other booksellers for years of supporting his work: another copy of the unrevised proof of Pippen is inscribed to Cleveland booksellers Bob and Anne Levine, with a similar message mentioning imps. Included with the lot is an essay by Elsie Clough looking back on her career, published in the 1964 issue of Yankee Magazine. Provenance: The Mary Steinbeck Dekker Family Collection.

Pippin IV explores the life of Pippin Héristal, an amateur astronomer in 1950s France, who is suddenly proclaimed the King of France. Unknowingly appointed to give the Communists a monarchy to revolt against, Pippin is chosen because he was descended from the famous king Charlemagne. Unhappy with his lack of privacy, alteration of family life, uncomfortable housings at the Palace of Versailles and his lack of power as a constitutional monarch, the protagonist spends a portion of the novel dressing up as a commoner, often riding a motorscooter, to avoid the constrained life of a king. Pippin eventually receives his wish of dethronement after the people of France enact the rebellion Pippin's kingship was destined to receive. He returns to his home in Paris to find that nothing has really changed.