Why Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath, and Other Essays - 1940

This First Edition copy of Why Steinbeck Wrote the Grapes of Wrath and Other Essays was published in 1940 by the Limited Editions Club in New York. It was the first of the Club's new series "Booklets for Bookmen" whose purpose was to solicit subscriptions to forthcoming publications of the Limited Editions Club. This first booklet contains three such essays, which are:

Why Steinbeck Wrote the Grapes of Wrath, by Joseph Henry Jackson. Pages 3-15

Did ShakespeareTranslate the Decameron? by Carter Meredith. Pages 16-22

Mr. Grahame, Mr. Roosevelt, and I, by A. A. Milne. Pages 23-30 (Mr. Grahame was the author of "The Wind in the Willows". Mr. Milne's essay in this booklet was later used as the introduction in the Limited Editions Club's publication of The Wind in the Willows.)

The booklet, which measures approximately 6 x 9 inches, contains 30 pages in paper covers with a bound-in subscription form and a smaller format of the form laid in. The booklet also contains black & white (half-tone or line) reproductions of illustrations to be used in the forthcoming editions by Thomas Hart Benton (Grapes of Wrath), Fritz Kredel (Decameron) and Arthur Rackham (Wind in the Willows). The pages of text are in fine condition, but the covers have marginal spots (front) and staining. The overall condition of the booklet is very good.

The illustrations accompanying this description show the booklet's front cover, the Title/Table of Contents page, and a 2-page spread of text and illustrations for each of the essays.