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Lot 58
STEINBECK BEGINS TO WRITE EAST OF EDEN. Autograph Letter Signed ("John") to his sister Mary about his preparations to write "my huge book about the Salinas Valley," 2 pp, 4to, New York, May 1, [1948], on personal letterhead,
25 October 2023, 14:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$8,960 inc. premium
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STEINBECK BEGINS TO WRITE EAST OF EDEN.
Autograph Letter Signed ("John") to his sister Mary about his preparations to write "my huge book about the Salinas Valley," 2 pp, 4to, New York, May 1, [1948], on personal letterhead, light creasing and toning, with original autograph transmittal envelope, envelope stained from adhesive with corners bumped.
"... ALL OF MY WORK WILL STAND OR FALL ON THIS...."
Steinbeck writes to his sister Mary on personal stationery that he mentions was a present from Pat Covici. After opening with details of his recent varicose vein surgery, he turns his attention to his magnum opus: "Actually I'm in training for my huge book about the Salinas Valley. I've had every physical test and I've lost 19 pounds and am going to lose ten more. This book is going to take a lot of strength and I want to know I can do it. I think it will be about half a million words long and it is the thing I've been practicing to do all my life. Never was ready for it before but I think I am now. If I'm not then I never will be. So this fall I will start it and may take two or three years but barring accidents—and they will have to be big ones, I will get it done. And all of my work will stand or fall on this. I feel very excited and scared about it, but good too. It's like opening a show after years of rehearsal."
Though Steinbeck declared himself ready to embark on the Salinas Valley book which would become East of Eden, the twin tragedies of 1948—the death of Ed Ricketts and the failure of his marriage to Gwyn— would set him back dramatically. He wrote little the rest of the year, except to research the Zapata project, putting what would become East of Eden on the back burner for the present.
"... ALL OF MY WORK WILL STAND OR FALL ON THIS...."
Steinbeck writes to his sister Mary on personal stationery that he mentions was a present from Pat Covici. After opening with details of his recent varicose vein surgery, he turns his attention to his magnum opus: "Actually I'm in training for my huge book about the Salinas Valley. I've had every physical test and I've lost 19 pounds and am going to lose ten more. This book is going to take a lot of strength and I want to know I can do it. I think it will be about half a million words long and it is the thing I've been practicing to do all my life. Never was ready for it before but I think I am now. If I'm not then I never will be. So this fall I will start it and may take two or three years but barring accidents—and they will have to be big ones, I will get it done. And all of my work will stand or fall on this. I feel very excited and scared about it, but good too. It's like opening a show after years of rehearsal."
Though Steinbeck declared himself ready to embark on the Salinas Valley book which would become East of Eden, the twin tragedies of 1948—the death of Ed Ricketts and the failure of his marriage to Gwyn— would set him back dramatically. He wrote little the rest of the year, except to research the Zapata project, putting what would become East of Eden on the back burner for the present.