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Lot 30
STEINBECK'S ORIGINAL LETTER FOR "THE FIRST WATCH." STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Typed Letter Signed ("John Steinbeck"), to Arnold Gingrich (as "Mr. G") thanking him for the gift of a watch and relating the emotional effect the gift had on him, 2 pp, 4to, Los Gatos, CA, January 5, 1938,
25 October 2023, 14:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$2,048 inc. premium
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STEINBECK'S ORIGINAL LETTER FOR "THE FIRST WATCH."
STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Typed Letter Signed ("John Steinbeck"), to Arnold Gingrich (as "Mr. G") thanking him for the gift of a watch and relating the emotional effect the gift had on him, 2 pp, 4to, Los Gatos, CA, January 5, 1938, lightly creased, stains from paper clip to upper left corner of both leaves, corners bumped, penciled dealer notation to upper right corner.
Provenance: Steinbeck to Mr. Gingrich; purchased by Marguerite and Louis Henry Cohn, House of Books, LTD (correspondence dated March 23, 1953); sold to David Heyler, March 1953; by descent.
A MOST FAMOUS STEINBECK LETTER AND THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT FOR ONE OF THE RAREST STEINBECK IMPRINTS. In late 1937, Arnold Gingrich, editor of Esquire magazine, in addition to buying a few stories previously rejected, sent Steinbeck the present of a watch. Steinbeck wrote a long, warm thank you, explaining his complicated relationship to watches, the most common graduation gift of his day, which he never before received as his school performance was too mediocre. In part: "you could not have known that in me you had probably the most profound, double-barrelled, synchro-mesh, watch tragedy the world has ever known. I have not spoken of this before. It was too sharp. / I think it must have originated below my memory plateau. Of course I cannot remember my first sorrow at not getting a watch, but the feeling of it was there with my first time consciousness. Watches from the beginning filled me not only with longing but with horror and nostalgia and a little despair. But so vital is hope that when I came near to graduating from grammar school, when Elgin and Waltham were explaining in full pages the remoteness of success possibility to a watchless person, I must admit that a little hope flickered. And so I graduated—and got a signet ring."
A charming letter from Steinbeck to Arnold Gingrich, an extended thank you couched in a story of Steinbeck's unfulfilled expectation of a watch for his successive matriculations in junior high, high school, and finally from Stanford (from which he never graduated).
Two letters from Marguerite Cohn of House of Books accompany this lot. In the first, written to David Heyler on March 27, 1953, Cohn explains how The First Watch came to be published: "We purchased a collection of Steinbeck firsts [Gingrich's?] and included therewith was a typed letter signed (which we still own) which constituted the manuscript of our booklet. We thought it was worth preserving in a more permanent form and approached Mr. Steinbeck for his permission. The results are, as we wrote, 60 copies for presentation and not for sale, of which ten were for Mr. Steinbeck's own use. It happens to have been printed by a California printer as we were out there during the summer of 1947 and took up the matter with the Ward Ritchie Press at that time." In the second letter, written May 3, 1953, Mrs. Cohn mentions that she has located a copy of The First Watch for him and also offers him one other item: "I am also sending, on approval, the original Steinbeck letter to Gingrich which is the manuscript of THE LAST WATCH. The price written in the corner is in my husband's writing but I will give you 10% off making it $45.00 if it interests you."
Provenance: Steinbeck to Mr. Gingrich; purchased by Marguerite and Louis Henry Cohn, House of Books, LTD (correspondence dated March 23, 1953); sold to David Heyler, March 1953; by descent.
A MOST FAMOUS STEINBECK LETTER AND THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT FOR ONE OF THE RAREST STEINBECK IMPRINTS. In late 1937, Arnold Gingrich, editor of Esquire magazine, in addition to buying a few stories previously rejected, sent Steinbeck the present of a watch. Steinbeck wrote a long, warm thank you, explaining his complicated relationship to watches, the most common graduation gift of his day, which he never before received as his school performance was too mediocre. In part: "you could not have known that in me you had probably the most profound, double-barrelled, synchro-mesh, watch tragedy the world has ever known. I have not spoken of this before. It was too sharp. / I think it must have originated below my memory plateau. Of course I cannot remember my first sorrow at not getting a watch, but the feeling of it was there with my first time consciousness. Watches from the beginning filled me not only with longing but with horror and nostalgia and a little despair. But so vital is hope that when I came near to graduating from grammar school, when Elgin and Waltham were explaining in full pages the remoteness of success possibility to a watchless person, I must admit that a little hope flickered. And so I graduated—and got a signet ring."
A charming letter from Steinbeck to Arnold Gingrich, an extended thank you couched in a story of Steinbeck's unfulfilled expectation of a watch for his successive matriculations in junior high, high school, and finally from Stanford (from which he never graduated).
Two letters from Marguerite Cohn of House of Books accompany this lot. In the first, written to David Heyler on March 27, 1953, Cohn explains how The First Watch came to be published: "We purchased a collection of Steinbeck firsts [Gingrich's?] and included therewith was a typed letter signed (which we still own) which constituted the manuscript of our booklet. We thought it was worth preserving in a more permanent form and approached Mr. Steinbeck for his permission. The results are, as we wrote, 60 copies for presentation and not for sale, of which ten were for Mr. Steinbeck's own use. It happens to have been printed by a California printer as we were out there during the summer of 1947 and took up the matter with the Ward Ritchie Press at that time." In the second letter, written May 3, 1953, Mrs. Cohn mentions that she has located a copy of The First Watch for him and also offers him one other item: "I am also sending, on approval, the original Steinbeck letter to Gingrich which is the manuscript of THE LAST WATCH. The price written in the corner is in my husband's writing but I will give you 10% off making it $45.00 if it interests you."