Of Mice and Men - A Play in Three Acts - salesman's dummy

New York: Covici Friede, 1937. 1st Edition . Hardcover. Fine/Very Good. Salesman's dummy with only 16 pages of printed text, which has numerous variants compared to the final version. A previous owner has highlighted many of the variants lightly in pencil. Book near fine with white lettering on plain brown cloth. Jacket has a few abrasions. It differs from the final version, being a half inch taller, and the rear panel and rear flap of the jacket are blank. Also, the cursive "h." of the jacket designer is fully present on the jacket, whereas it appears half-clipped on the regular edition. Certainly one of the rarest Steinbeck items, and most interesting. It gives a glimpse of Steinbeck's final editing decisions, which were evidently ongoing only weeks before publication. This copy, like the one in Goldstone and Payne, is stamped in red "NOV 5 1937 on the front endpaper; unlike the former, the "5" is not crossed out and replaced with "NOV 23," the actual publication date. The textual pencil notations may indicate this copy is that same one that was offered in the Harry Valentine collection, which was described as having similar notations. The Valentine copy is described in 1980 Bradford Morrow catalogue.