Steinbeck Collection Raises $200,000
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LOS ANGELES (AP) – A rare edition of “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck’s epic 1939 tale of Depression-era poverty, sold at auction for $47,800.
A number of other first-edition copies of Steinbeck works were sold Sunday at an auction held by Bonhams & Butterfields. A copy of “Of Mice and Men” sold for $7,768, “East of Eden” for $8,365 and “In Dubious Battle” for $11,353.
The books were owned by the author’s sister, Elizabeth Steinbeck Ainsworth, who died in 1992. The Steinbeck family chose to sell the books to finance renovation of a Pacific Grove bungalow where Steinbeck wrote some of his books, said Catherine Williamson, director of fine books and manuscripts for Bonhams.
The collection sold for more than $200,000.
Five of the Steinbeck titles were bought by Jim Dourgarian, a Bay Area antiquarian bookseller who specializes in Steinbeck’s work.
Bonhams believes the $47,800 price for the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Grapes of Wrath” is the world record for an at-auction sale for a Steinbeck novel, Williamson said.
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On the Net: http://www.bonhams.com/us
