STEINBECK, John

Tortilla Flat

New York: The Viking Press, 1947. Item #06568

A Landmark American Novel in Its First Illustrated Dress
With Seventeen Evocative Paintings by Peggy Worthington

STEINBECK, John. Tortilla Flat. With seventeen paintings by Peggy Worthington. New York: The Viking Press, [1947].

First illustrated edition.

Large octavo (9 3/16 x 6 5/8 inches; 234 x 168 mm.). [1–10], 11–213, [3, blank] pp. Seventeen fine color illustrations, including nine full-page plates.

Publisher’s tan linen over boards, front cover with a mounted color illustration, spine lettered in dark green, pictorial color endpapers, top edge stained dark green. A fine copy in the original color pictorial dust jacket.

A beautifully produced illustrated edition of Tortilla Flat, one of John Steinbeck’s earliest and most enduring works.

First published in 1935, Tortilla Flat marked Steinbeck’s breakthrough, introducing the loosely connected adventures of Danny and his companions - paisanos living on the margins of society in Monterey, California. Blending humor, pathos, and a gently ironic narrative voice, the work established many of the thematic concerns - friendship, poverty, and moral ambiguity - that would define Steinbeck’s later masterpieces.

Peggy Worthington’s illustrations, created specifically for this edition, bring a warm, painterly interpretation to Steinbeck’s world, capturing both the rustic charm and underlying poignancy of the paisanos’ lives. Her use of color and composition lends the volume a distinctive visual identity, making this edition one of the most appealing mid-century illustrated Steinbeck publications.

Issued in an attractive format with mounted cover illustration and pictorial endpapers, this 1947 edition represents the first fully illustrated presentation of the text, and remains highly sought after in fine condition with the dust jacket intact.

A particularly fresh and desirable copy of an American classic - uniting Steinbeck’s breakthrough novel with a sympathetic and accomplished illustrative program.

Goldstone & Payne A4a.

Price: $400.00