East of Eden (Signed limited edition)

New York: The Viking Press, 1952. First edition. Fine/Good. One of 1,500 copies of the signed, limited edition, 750 of which were for sale. A bright, Fine copy in chipped publisher's acetate dust jacket, Good only. Lacking the slipcase. Publisher's green cloth titled in gilt. Edges stained red. Ink gift inscription, dated 1957, to upper pastedown. An excellent example, very clean and fresh throughout. Dust jacket lacking lower third of spine and about a quarter of the back panel.

Set in the Salinas Valley of California, East of Eden is Steinbeck's classic tale of the Trask and Hamilton families. The Nobel Prize-winning writer considered this his greatest work and, in fact, a young Steinbeck actually makes a small appearance in the novel as a character. East of Eden was a bestseller and became extremely popular upon its release. Steinbeck wrote a friend: "I am getting flocks of letters...People write as though it were their book." Nearly fifty years after its publication, the book would undergo a resurgence in popularity when it was chosen as an Oprah's Book Club pick in 2003. More famously, the book was adapted into a 1955 film directed by Elia Kazan and featuring James Dean in one of his few starring roles.

"...no one can doubt its merits as the work of a great storyteller. It compels and holds the reader's fascinated attention from the first chapter to the last" (contemporary review in the Washington Post). Fine in Good dust jacket.