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"I THINK IT IS PRETTY GOOD": UNBOUND GALLEY PROOFS OF EAST OF EDEN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. East of Eden. [New York: The Viking Press, 1952.] image 1
"I THINK IT IS PRETTY GOOD": UNBOUND GALLEY PROOFS OF EAST OF EDEN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. East of Eden. [New York: The Viking Press, 1952.] image 2
"I THINK IT IS PRETTY GOOD": UNBOUND GALLEY PROOFS OF EAST OF EDEN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. East of Eden. [New York: The Viking Press, 1952.] image 3
"I THINK IT IS PRETTY GOOD": UNBOUND GALLEY PROOFS OF EAST OF EDEN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. East of Eden. [New York: The Viking Press, 1952.] image 4
"I THINK IT IS PRETTY GOOD": UNBOUND GALLEY PROOFS OF EAST OF EDEN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. East of Eden. [New York: The Viking Press, 1952.] image 5
"I THINK IT IS PRETTY GOOD": UNBOUND GALLEY PROOFS OF EAST OF EDEN. STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. East of Eden. [New York: The Viking Press, 1952.] image 6
Lot 70

"I THINK IT IS PRETTY GOOD": UNBOUND GALLEY PROOFS OF EAST OF EDEN.
STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968.
East of Eden. [New York: The Viking Press, 1952.]

25 October 2023, 14:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$7,680 inc. premium

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"I THINK IT IS PRETTY GOOD": UNBOUND GALLEY PROOFS OF EAST OF EDEN.

STEINBECK, JOHN. 1902-1968. East of Eden. [New York: The Viking Press, 1952.]
243 leaves, folio, printed on rectos only of long, unbound galley sheets. Lightly thumbed, minor wear at edges.
Provenance: sent by Viking Press to David Heyler at the direction of John Steinbeck (letter from Steinbeck to Heyler dated November 19, 1951, copy present with this lot; letter from Pascal Covici to Heyler dated June 4, 1952, present with this lot); by descent.

UNREVISED GALLEY PROOFS OF HIS MASTERPIECE, UNTRIMMED AND UNBOUND. "Goldstone and Payne located no copies, and it is likely that no more than a few sets of this massive prepublication format were made up in the first place" (Morrow 215 for bound format).

In a letter to David Heyler written November 19, 1951, Steinbeck writes, "Finished the first draft of the book [East of Eden] 946 pages. Am re-writing now. I think it is pretty good. I asked to have a galley pulled for you thinking you might like to have it. You'll get it sometime in January." The proof actually arrived at Heyler's in June of 1952 because, as Pat Covici writes, "John did tell me about it but he forgot to give me the address."

Steinbeck was quite fond of his niece's husband Heyler, and as soon as he realized the young man was a book collector, began sending him books, manuscripts and memorabilia from his own collection, forming the core of the present library.

East of Eden is Steinbeck's magnum opus, the book he considered his finest work, or, as he says here, "pretty good."

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