STEINBECK, JohnBiblio.com
John SteinbeckBiblio.com
Of Mice and Men
1937réf. 3871February 1937 Covici Friede first edition third printing. Printed by J.J. Little and Ives. Extremely uncommon as a later Little and Ives printing. The first printing of this book January 1937 is documented in the three major Steinbeck bibliographies Goldstone Harmon and Holmes. All three of these bibliographies state that following the first printing done by J.J. Little and Ives subsequent printings were done by The Haddon Craftstmen with the page 9 and page 88 first edition points corrected. None of the three bibliographies identify a later printing done by Little and Ives. The first printing of the book Jan 1937 had a small print run of 2500 copies. Publisher Covici was surprised by the initial demand for the book as Steinbeck's prior books had a limited audience. Covici was on shaky financial footing as a publisher pretty much from the start of the business in 1928 until it's liquidation in 1938. By 1935 the firm was in financial straits owing money to several creditors. The largest creditor was printer J.J. Little and Ives. Colonel Arthur Little owner of that company held notes on much of Covici's debt and reportedly was impatient with Covici's failure to pay. Finally in 1938 Colonel Little called in the notes forcing the liquidation of Covici's publishing company see pages 14-16 Steinbeck and Covici by Thomas Fensch. Without documentation the following paragraph is mostly conjecture. Due to the unexpected high demand for Of Mice and Men in January 1937 Covici may have gone back to Colonel Little to negotiate additional print runs. Colonel Little was likely at the end of his patience with Covici. The evidence suggests Colonel Little agreed to two added print runs of very limited size and that Covici had to turn to a different printing company to fill orders for the book. The irony of course is that in the Spring of 1937 Of Mice and Men became a major best seller but by that time Little and Ives is out of the picture. To reiterate there is no documentation of any later Little and Ives printings in all three Steinbeck bibliographies. As of my preparation of this listing two other "later" Little and Ives listings can be found online which corroborates that a small number were produced. As to the copy being offered condition of the book is Very Good Plus with sound binding complete and unmarked inside pages. The page 9 and page 88 first edition points are corrected in this later printing. The main condition issue with this copy: the prior owner's name and City of residence San Francisco is written in ink on the front free endpaper. The interior of the book and exterior boards are clean and bright. Often early copies of the book show moderate exterior wear with visible soil on the light colored boards and fading or flaking to the red and black titles. That is not so with this copy. Please see the listing photos. Covici Friede hardcover
Upstate Books · États-Unis379,00 $US≈ 339,24 €
