Typed Carbon, 144 pp, 4to, n.p., [c.1948], being a screenplay adaptation of Cannery Row, bound with brads and housed in "Sam Jaffe Agency / Mary Baker in Charge of Literary Department" wraps, pages toned and chipped at edges, p 1 and upper wrap chipped at lower margins with losses.

An intriguing piece. Cannery Row was published in 1945 and certainly given consideration by the studios (see lot xxxx), but did not make it on screen immediately. In 1948 actor and Steinbeck friend Burgess Meredith wanted to adapt the novel as a vehicle for himself, but that production never materialized. Nonetheless, Steinbeck's biography mentions that he produced a script for that intended project, of which this may be a copy. This version lacks a traditional title page listing author and date, but does have 1940s-era wrappers of Mary Baker's division at the Sam Jaffe agency. Steinbeck was not represented by the Jaffe agency but Meredith apparently was at this time.