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“THE FIRST FLIGHT OF A FINE WRITING TALENT”: SCARCE FIRST EDITION OF STEINBECK’S SECOND BOOK, PASTURES OF HEAVEN

STEINBECK, John. Pastures of Heaven. New York, 1932.

First edition, first issue, one of a scant 650 copies sold, of Steinbeck’s lyrical and incisive portrait of the verdant heart of California and its people—“points the way to most of his subsequent writing”—in scarce original dust jacket. $18,000.

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“A TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT… STEINBECK’S FINEST WORK IN THE GENRE”: RARE LITTLE-KNOWN “REVISED FINAL” SCREENPLAY WITH THE WORKING TITLE OF “THE TIGER,” DATED ONLY ONE MONTH BEFORE THE FINAL SHOOTING SCREENPLAY TITLED VIVA ZAPATA!, WHICH PREMIERED IN 1952

STEINBECK, John. Tiger (Viva Zapata) Screenplay. Los Angeles, April 12, 1951.

Rare April 12, 1951 “Revised Final” screenplay of “The Tiger”—the only known revised final screenplay to contain this working title of the 1952 Oscar-winning film, Viva Zapata!—which earned Steinbeck and star Marlon Brando Oscar nominations, culminating years of Steinbeck’s intense struggle to complete a screenplay on the life of Zapata, fondly known as “The Little Tiger,” and revered by Steinbeck “as one of the greatest men who ever lived.” This exceptional screenplay printed with “Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation,” “Revised Final” and “April 12, 1951” on the original front wrapper, along with “Revised final” and “April 12, 1951” on the title page, is dated far closer to the film’s premiere than an early May 13, 1949 version, with a working title of “Zapata, the Little Tiger,” and only one month before a final shooting screenplay, titled Viva Zapata! and dated May 16, 1951, this rare April 12 screenplay offering important insight into Steinbeck’s creative process, as well as the input of director Elia Kazan and producer Darryl Zanuck. $9000.

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“I THINK A GOOD SCRIPT IS COMING OUT OF IT. I AM EXTREMELY PLEASED”: RARE NOVEMBER 4, 1949 AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY STEINBECK TO FILM PRODUCER DARRYL ZANUCK, TOGETHER WITH THE “SHOOTING FINAL” SCREENPLAY OF VIVA ZAPATA!, AND RELATED EPHEMERA

(ZANUCK, Daryl) STEINBECK, John. Autograph letter signed. With Viva Zapata Screenplay. New York, 1949, 1951. Three items.

November 4, 1949 autograph letter signed by Steinbeck to film producer Daryl Zanuck, reporting Steinbeck’s optimism at the progress of his original screenplay for the film Viva Zapata!, Steinbeck’s letter in this rare collection with a May 16, 1951 original final shooting screenplay for the film, which premiered in 1952 starring Marlon Brando and directed by Elia Kazan, with Steinbeck’s Oscar-nominated script hailed as a “towering achievement… unquestionably his finest work in the genre,” housed together with ten loose leaves of facsimile documenting Steinbeck’s legal contracts on the film with Twentieth Century-Fox Film, in a handsome custom folding chemise and half morocco slipcase. $8000.

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“THEY DO THESE THINGS BETTER IN FRANCE”

STEINBECK, John. The Short Reign of Pippin IV. New York, 1957.

First edition of Steinbeck's whimsical satire, warmly inscribed to Barbara Wolferman, the assistance casting director on the 1955 musical adaptation of Sweet Thursday ("Pipe Dream)": "For Barbara—'They do these things better in France' said Uncle Toby. And they do these things better in me—With love John Steinbeck." $5800.

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