The Grapes of Wrath

New York: The Viking Press (1939), 1939. First edition. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 8vo. [8], 3-619, [3] pp. Publisher's buckram with decorations in brown on the boards and spine, brown lettering on the spine; yellow topstain. Decorative endpapers and pastedowns printed with a section of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". Price of $2.75 on the front flap of the dust jacket. Jacket illustration by Elmer Hader. The "First Edition" slug on the jacket's front flap's bottom corner. Ahearn APG 014d. Goldstone & Payne A12. The 1940 recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. Steinbeck's tour de force which deeply moved readers across the United States, including the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. This novel played a major role in reshaping American labor laws. It stands as a warning against completely unchecked, unfettered capitalism (one of the reasons why it became a target of book bans). Throughout the novel, greed and apathy each take their turn in ruining the lives and prospects of the Joads, and other migrant families like them. Widely considered to be one of the finest American novels of the twentieth century, Steinbeck's masterpiece still remains relevant today, with parallels between the current climate crisis and the Dust Bowl, and the suffering of migrant farmhands in his day versus the plight of low-wage workers in today's agricultural industry. Our copy of this celebrated novel presents beautifully. A very scant trace of foxing to the top textblock; three small spots of paper restoration on the jacket's spine panel, subtly done.