Two Russian Books From the Library of John Steinbeck.

[STEINBECK, John].

$950.00

Item Number: 117588

Moscow: Various, c. 1960.

Two volumes in Russian from the library of American literary master John Steinbeck. Quarto, two volumes including a book of early Russian Orthodox paintings with many in color and a folio of loose plates featuring artwork from the Hermitage Museum. From the library of John Steinbeck. In very good condition.

Steinbeck made his first of many trips to the Soviet Union in 1947 with photographer Robert Capa,. They visited Moscow, Kiev, Tbilisi, Batumi and Stalingrad and were some of the first Americans to visit many parts of the USSR since the communist revolution. Steinbeck's 1948 book about their experiences, A Russian Journal, was illustrated with Capa's photos. In 1948, the year the book was published, Steinbeck was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.