Cup of Gold by Steinbeck, John - 1929

New York: Robert M. McBride, 1929. First edition, first issue, of the author's first book. [vi], 269, [3] pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Original yellow cloth, titled in black on front cover and spine, top edge stained blue; pictorial dust jacket designed by Mahlon Blaine (with $2.50 price present); tan cloth slipcase. The cloth in unusually bright condition; the jacket spine panel lightly faded and with wear at ends touching the top of titling, a few abrasions to front and back panels. Despite these flaws, a bright and entirely original copy of a book infrequently found in collector's condition. First edition, first issue, of the author's first book. [vi], 269, [3] pp. 1 vols. 8vo. First Book. FIRST EDITION of the future Nobel laureate's elusive first book, published when he was 27 years old. One of 1,537 copies (the publisher printed 2476 copies, 939 of which were remaindered as unbound sheets). This was Steinbeck's fourth attempt at a novel and was rewritten six times from an unpublished story titled "A Lady in Infra-Red," which he composed while at Stanford.
"Aside from a few reviews, the only [early] recognition ... was Berton Braley's 'thanks and acknowledgements' for Steinbeck's permission to use some of the incidents in a doggerel epic 'Morgan Sails the Caribbean' (1934)" (Peter Lisca, 'The Wide World of John Steinbeck,' Rutgers UP, 1958). Goldstone & Payne A1a