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Lot 42
INSCRIBED CLANDESTINE NORWEGIAN COPIES OF THE MOON IS DOWN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Natt Uten Mane. Translated by Nils Lie. [Stockholm: Åhlén & Åkerlund, c.1942].
25 October 2023, 14:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$5,760 inc. premium
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INSCRIBED CLANDESTINE NORWEGIAN COPIES OF THE MOON IS DOWN.
STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. Natt Uten Mane. Translated by Nils Lie. [Stockholm: Åhlén & Åkerlund, c.1942]. 8vo. Publisher's printed wrappers. Light thumbsoiling and wear. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED on the half-title: "These were dropped from airplanes over occupied Norway during the war / J. Steinbeck." WITH: Another copy, inscribed by Steinbeck in pencil, "For Norway" on upper cover.
SIGNED COPY OF THE RARE NORWEGIAN PIRACY OF THE MOON IS DOWN. Steinbeck wrote The Moon is Down hoping to inspire resistance among citizens of German-occupied countries. Although it's set in an unnamed occupied country in Northern Europe, the details closely resemble Norway, as the novel follows the citizens of a small town as they engage in subtle resistance to the occupying forces. Even when their leaders are captured and executed, the citizens vow to continue the fight against fascism. Most Norwegians, indeed most Europeans during the war and after, believed Norway to be the fictionalized country giving its influence a singular significance, and in 1946 Steinbeck was awarded the distinguished Haakon VII Cross by the King for his contributions to the Norwegian resistance during the war through The Moon is Down. "In the judgement of the King of Norway himself, that novel had bolstered the morale of his war-ravaged nation" (Coers, p 30).
By 1942, the clandestine printing operations for Norwegian-language books were highly operational in Swedish publishing houses (professed neutrality not withstanding). And naturally, the Norwegian Legation in Stockholm recognized Steinbeck's novel as a natural, and the first shipments of Natt Uten Mane were transported into Norway in fall of 1942. Steinbeck in his inscription notes, "These were dropped from airplanes...," which was indeed true, but that method was prohibitively expensive, so most copies were smuggled across borders through the rail system, and then clandestinely distributed by hand. Copies were not preserved or held, but passed from reader to reader, making surviving copies a rarity. Not in Goldstone & Payne; Not in Morrrow. See Coers, John Steinbeck Goes to War: The Moon is Down as Propaganda, pp 28-56.
SIGNED COPY OF THE RARE NORWEGIAN PIRACY OF THE MOON IS DOWN. Steinbeck wrote The Moon is Down hoping to inspire resistance among citizens of German-occupied countries. Although it's set in an unnamed occupied country in Northern Europe, the details closely resemble Norway, as the novel follows the citizens of a small town as they engage in subtle resistance to the occupying forces. Even when their leaders are captured and executed, the citizens vow to continue the fight against fascism. Most Norwegians, indeed most Europeans during the war and after, believed Norway to be the fictionalized country giving its influence a singular significance, and in 1946 Steinbeck was awarded the distinguished Haakon VII Cross by the King for his contributions to the Norwegian resistance during the war through The Moon is Down. "In the judgement of the King of Norway himself, that novel had bolstered the morale of his war-ravaged nation" (Coers, p 30).
By 1942, the clandestine printing operations for Norwegian-language books were highly operational in Swedish publishing houses (professed neutrality not withstanding). And naturally, the Norwegian Legation in Stockholm recognized Steinbeck's novel as a natural, and the first shipments of Natt Uten Mane were transported into Norway in fall of 1942. Steinbeck in his inscription notes, "These were dropped from airplanes...," which was indeed true, but that method was prohibitively expensive, so most copies were smuggled across borders through the rail system, and then clandestinely distributed by hand. Copies were not preserved or held, but passed from reader to reader, making surviving copies a rarity. Not in Goldstone & Payne; Not in Morrrow. See Coers, John Steinbeck Goes to War: The Moon is Down as Propaganda, pp 28-56.