Cannery Row: Plus Bonus Book: The Short Reign of Pippin the Short

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (author of The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and East of Eden) Hardcover First Edition - First Printing - Second State Binding - First State Dust Jacket Viking 1945. $2.00 cover price inside front dust jacket flap. First Printing since there is NO subsequent printing information on the copyright page. Second state canary yellow boards with blue lines and lettering on the front and spine. NOT to be confused with the wartime edition in blue boards. (see edition information below)

Fine- in Near Fine unrestored Dust Jacket. A really nice exceptional copy in dust jacket. The book itself is just about fine with very clean pages. Dust jacket is quite clean and bright at the front, and does NOT have any major tears. Typical edge-wear top and bottom spine and rubbing and nicks to the same and at the corners, and some typical soiling to the back of the dust jacket. Overall a very clean and presentable first edition copy of one of the half-dozen major works of Steinbeck.

Note on edition/state: The first edition/first printing of this book appeared in two states, both released simultaneously. The first state has been determined to be buff-colored (somewhat tan-like) boards while the second state is canary yellow. Apparently, during production, the printers ran out of the buff/tan materials for the boards, and to meet the publishing deadline, yellow colored materials were brought in and used for the rest of the print-run. Purists collectors will contest the buff-colored boards are the most preferable. However, they really represent at best simply two states of the first printing (not two printings as further printings would be indicated subsequently because the book was popular) since copies of both states were released simultaneously in 1945. At the time, buyers would have had about a 50-50 chance of purchasing either the buff or yellow boards of these copies. Typically, first state copies of the buff-tan variety in near fine or better dust jackets are priced at $2000+, while the yellow boards, as offered here, can be had for a fraction of the price. Everything else, the pages, the dust jacket price, etc, are the same. As a collector, I am more interested in the condition of the dust jacket rather than whether the boards are first or second state. Shortly thereafter, a so-called wartime edition was issued in blue boards. The wartime edition, while a good reading copy, has essentially almost no premium value on the collectors market.

NOTE: All modern books with dust jackets come with dust jacket covers.

ALSO: The pictures are of the actual item for sale. (The pictures are NOT stock photos.)