The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, John - 1939

New York: The Viking Press, 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. Good/Fair. Signed by Author. Signed First Edition of John Steinbeck's award-winning novel of the Great Depression. Shows the usual First Edition points on both book and on dust cover, including stated "First Edition" on dust jacket, all four tips being machine-clipped, textured tan cloth covers, illustrated with brown line drawings on front and lettering to spine, illustrated endpapers (Julia Ward Howe's "Battle Hymn of the Republic"), and "First Published in April 1939" on copyright page and nothing else. Some bruising to tips, bumping to and light discoloration to spine head and foot. Text block still tightly bound, no loose signatures. Full-color illustrated dust jacket shows edge-wear, including "first edition" and $2.75 price on front flap, some chipping at tips and spine, small closed tears at spine head and foot. Tom Joad, his wife and family leave an exceedingly bleak life of tenant farming in Oklahoma, exacerbated by climate change, the Great Depression, bank foreclosures, and despair, and head Out West, along with thousands of other "Okies" seeking a better life. Justifiably praised when it was first published in 1939, it became also a celebrated film in 1940 starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford and anchored Steinbeck's bid later to earn the Nobel Prize for Literature, which was awarded him in 1962. 619 pp. Additional postage may be required for oversize or especially heavy volumes, and for sets.