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ED RICKETTS' PRESENTATION COPY OF SAINT KATY THE VIRGIN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Saint Katy the Virgin. New York: Covici Friede, 1936. image 1
ED RICKETTS' PRESENTATION COPY OF SAINT KATY THE VIRGIN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Saint Katy the Virgin. New York: Covici Friede, 1936. image 2
ED RICKETTS' PRESENTATION COPY OF SAINT KATY THE VIRGIN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Saint Katy the Virgin. New York: Covici Friede, 1936. image 3
ED RICKETTS' PRESENTATION COPY OF SAINT KATY THE VIRGIN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Saint Katy the Virgin. New York: Covici Friede, 1936. image 4
Lot 25

ED RICKETTS' PRESENTATION COPY OF SAINT KATY THE VIRGIN.
STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968.
Saint Katy the Virgin. New York: Covici Friede, 1936.

25 October 2023, 14:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$4,864 inc. premium

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ED RICKETTS' PRESENTATION COPY OF SAINT KATY THE VIRGIN.

STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Saint Katy the Virgin. New York: Covici Friede, 1936.
8vo. Publisher's decorated boards, gilt cloth spine printed in red. With printed "Merry Christmas" slip laid in. Light spotting to front pastedown, some thumbing throughout; light wear to spine and fore-edges.
Provenance: Ed Ricketts's copy (blindstamp and penciled notation to front flyleaf); by descent to John Steinbeck (blindstamp to last three leaves); gift to David Heyler; by descent.

PRESENTATION COPY FOR ED RICKETTS, notated in an unidentified hand, "No. 1 of a new library. From John / Dec 19, 1936," number 6 of 199, SIGNED ("John Steinbeck") on the colophon. The front flyleaf and the colophon both feature Ed Rickett's blindstamp: "E.F. Ricketts / Pacific Biol. Labs. / Pacific Grove, Calif."

Ed Ricketts was Steinbeck's closest friend and an incredibly influential figure in the writer's life. The two men met in 1930 in Pacific Grove and Steinbeck's wife Carol worked in Ricketts' lab for two years. Ricketts' Pacific Biological Laboratory burned down in 1936 and the insurance company refused to pay damages. The cost of rebuilding was so burdensome that Steinbeck became a silent partner in the concern. This volume is given as the first title in the new library to be rebuilt.

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