John Steinbeck] Steinbeck, John. Nothing So Monstrous. NY, Pynson Printers, December 1936, first edition. Issued without dust jacket, this hardcover with marbled boards and orange cloth spine is the first separate printing of the Junius Maltby story from Steinbeck's second book, The Pastures of Heaven, Goldstone & Payne A2f, see Morrow 16, issued here with a new title and an epilogue written especially for this book by Steinbeck, it is one of only 370 copies for presentation by a number of subscribers to be used as a Christmas gift, it includes pen and ink drawings by Donald McKay, this particular colpy is even more special in that it is one of just six copies purchased by Steinbeck himself, his name is printed in the colophon as having requested the book which he then presented and inscribed to his older sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, Gene ("Beth and Gene/with love/John Steinbeck"), this is probably the last of the close family copies to come to the marketplace, the rest are already in institutions. Fine. JD6519

Steinbeck, John. Their Blood Is Strong. San Francisco, Simon J. Lubin Society of California, April 1938, first edition, wrappers. Softcover. This true first edition, sold originally at 25 cents, is one of the most elusive of Steinbeck's first editions, with the famous front cover photo by Dorthea Lange of the mother suckling her child, the book was a precursor to Steineck's publishing his masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath, Goldstone & Payne A10a, Morrow 86. A very good copy. JD5963

Steinbeck, John. Grozd'ja Gneva (The Grapes of Wrath). Moscow, Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel'stov, 1940, first edition thus. This is the unrecorded first Russian edition of The Grapes of Wrath, this hardcover was translated by N. Volzhina, with an afterword by I. Anisimov, pen and ink drawing illustrations on front cover, plus several full-page and chapter beginnings illustrations by L. Brodati, the colophon records that the work was sent to the typesetter on June 16, 1940 and was published Oct. 2, 1940 in an edition of 25,000 copies, Goldstone & Payne D475 records a 1941 edition while Morrow 515 states (erroneously) that its 1957 publication is the first Russian edition, the Reuben Cat. 33, item 489a also records a 1941 edition, the transliteration from the Cyrillic and translation of the bibliographic information in this case by Alexander Tentser, this unique copy further high-lighted by being an Author Association/Presentation Copy being Inscribed by Steinbeck to Lewis Milestone, it reads, "For Lewis Milestone Nov smoz ka palp! John Steinbeck," his inscription appears to be a mock Russian, Milestone produced and directed both the original 1939 film version of Of Mice and Men and the 1949 film version of The Red Pony. This rather cheaply produced book has expected age and appropriate wear, else very good plus in a fine custom clam-shell case with gilt titles on the spine. JD6030

Steinbeck, John. The Pearl. RKO, 1948, first edition. A complete set of eight 11X14-inch color lobby card posters for this film based on John Steinbeck's classic novella, the film starred Pedro Armendariz and Maria Elena Marques, good use of Steinbeck's name on the title card and all the scene cards, Steinbeck is credited on the title card with writing the screenplay (along with director Emilio Fernandez and Jack Wagner), none of these posters were in the Goldstone collection, but see Goldstone & Payne E15, not recorded by Morrow, any of these posters are scarce, but a complete set is extremely scarce as well as desirable. Minor use. JD3041

Ricketts, Edward F. Typed Letter Signed by this legendary marine biologist best known as the best friend of author John Steinbeck and who with Steinbeck co-authored Sea of Cortez which is still an indispensible reference work for marine biologists, Ricketts also appears in many of Steinbeck's novels, the letter is dated Feb. 1, 1941 typed on Pacific Biological Laboratories stationery addressed to Dr. John W. Wells of the Dept. of Zoology at Ohio State University, the letter is comprised of five paragraphs, a total of 22 lines, Signed in full by Ricketts who also added a P. S. which he has initialed, Ricketts thanks the recipient for five photographs which he has "filed with illustrations for the forthcoming book," although unmentioned, the book in question is undoubtedly Sea of Cortez which was published Dec. 5, 1941, the P. S. asks the recipient to "look over the madrepore section" before the book is published. Folded for mailing, else quite nice and clean. JD3210

London, Jack. Jan. 26, 1914, first edition. An autographed letter signed from London to his wife, Charmian Kittredge London, comprised of 11 c.8X5-inch sheets written on rectos only and Signed by London as "Wolf," he refers to Charmian in his salutation as "Dearest My Woman," London talks about being in New York, it deals with a variety of subjects, including his seeing Anna Strunsky (they co-authored The Kempton-Wace Letters) and her parents, he writes about selling rights to The Sea-Wolf "to the Jew sons of toads" and ends with "You are the one/woman in the world/& in my life--Wolf," this letter is unrecorded, not listed in the massive three-volume set of The Letters of Jack London produced by Stanford University Press in 1988. Folded in thirds. JD4621

Brautigan, Richard. The Tokyo-Montana Express. NY, Delacorte/Seymour Lawrence, 1980, first edition, dust jacket. Hardcover. Author Presentation Copy of the highest association level, Inscribed to his own publisher, "This Copy is for Sam Lawrence/"Montana!"/Richard Brautigan/New York/November 16, 1980". Wear at jacket extremities, else fine. JD121