Books

First edition, first printing, of the author's first collection of short stories, in the first issue dust jacket. The work is "the most popular of Steinbeck's three early books. It points the way to most of his subsequent writing" (Moore, p. 18). Steinbeck conceived the work as a loosely connected sequence of stories, "each one complete in itself, having its rise, climax, and ending" (quoted in Lisca, p. 57). Octavo. Original green cloth, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, top edge black, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. With dust jacket, designed by Lynd Ward. Housed in a custom blue quarter morocco slipcase and chemise. Bookseller's ticket to rear pastedown. Spine a little faded; slight rubbing and a few tiny spots of silverfishing to unclipped jacket, extremities lightly chipped with short closed tear to front flap fold, overall bright: a near-fine copy in near-fine jacket. Goldstone & Payne A2a. Peter Lisca, The Wide World of John Steinbeck, 1958; Harry Thornton Moore, The Novels of John Steinbeck, 1939.

The Pastures of Heaven is a collection of interconnected stories about the inhabitants of a fertile valley in California, which is discovered by a Spanish corporal while chasing runaway Indian slaves. First published in 1932, this work by John Steinbeck deals with themes of community, isolation, and the struggle of individuals.