The Grapes of Wrath

New York: The Viking Press, 1939 First edition, first printing; in the original first issue dust jacket, with the original ($2.75) price and "First Edition" to corner of front flap. Publisher's beige cloth, boards illustrated with an image of migrant families heading West after Elmer Hader's dust jacket design, pictorial endpapers illustrated with sheet music for the "The Battle Hymn the Republic"; in its original dust jacket with an illustration by Hader depicting tenant farming families looking out on a caravan of migrant families heading West across a valley towards a mountain range. Very good book, with light toning to spine, a touch of soiling to top right of front board, some spotting to top- and fore edge, small bookshop label to front pastedown, some offsetting to endpapers, and trace of bookplate removal to verso of front free endpaper; very good unclipped dust jacket, with light toning to spine, some very shallow chipping to spine ends, a few nicks and small closed tears here and there, 1.5 inch closed tear to foot of spine, and some creasing to bottom edge of rear panel. Overall, a sturdy and attractive copy of this iconic work of 20th century literature. In this powerful and compelling novel, Steinbeck tells the story of a poor "Okie" family, who travels westward to California after their home state of Oklahoma is decimated by the Dust Bowl in the 1930's. Steinbeck's keen sense of human emotion and humanitarian interest in the plight of the tenant farmer make this novel a classic and timeless masterpiece that provides a unique insight into the history of the American Midwest. Symbolizing the novel's motifs of sacrifice and the American dream, The Grapes of Wrath takes its title from Julia Ward Howe's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," whose lyrics reference the Biblical apocalypse and divine deliverance from oppression. The Grapes of Wrath won both the National Book Award in 1939 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1940. It was also considered a major contributing factor in Steinbeck's 1962 awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Dust Jacket Included.