I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
Forgotten Village, The
New York: The Viking Press, 1947. Item #06569
A Powerful Documentary Collaboration
Steinbeck’s Stark Vision of Rural Mexico - First Edition
STEINBECK, John. The Forgotten Village. With 136 photographs from the film of the same name by Rosa Harvan Kline and Alexander Hackenschmied. New York: The Viking Press, 1941.
First edition, first issue. Quarto (10 x 6 7/8 inches; 254 x 175 mm.). [1–8], 9–143, [1, blank] pp. Illustrated throughout with 136 photographic reproductions.
Publisher’s tan buckram, front cover pictorially decorated in green, spine lettered in green, top edge stained green. A near fine copy in the original color pictorial dust jacket.
A striking and unusual work by John Steinbeck, conceived in conjunction with the documentary film of the same name. The Forgotten Village departs from Steinbeck’s more familiar fictional narratives, presenting instead a quasi-anthropological account of life in a remote Mexican village, where traditional beliefs and modern medicine collide with tragic consequences.
The text - part narrative, part social document - follows the story of a young boy, Juan Diego, whose village is ravaged by disease. Steinbeck’s restrained, almost reportorial prose heightens the emotional impact, underscoring themes of cultural conflict, superstition, and the limits of intervention. The work reflects Steinbeck’s deep and abiding interest in marginalized communities, a concern that runs throughout his major novels.
The volume is richly illustrated with 136 photographs by Rosa Harvan Kline and Alexander Hackensmid (later known as Alexander Hammid), whose cinematic eye lends the book a powerful visual immediacy. The photographs are not merely illustrative but integral to the narrative, reinforcing the documentary character of the work and bridging the gap between literature and film.
An important and often underappreciated Steinbeck title, here preserved in its original form with the dust jacket—an increasingly elusive survival in collectible condition.
Goldstone & Payne A15.
Price: $400.00