STEINBECK, John — Of Mice and Men

New York: Covici Friede, 1937. Steinbeck on Stage - The Dramatic Form of Of Mice and Men First Edition of the 1937 Play STEINBECK, John. Of Mice and Men. A Play in Three Acts. New York: Covici Friede, 1937. First edition. Octavo (7 1/2 x 5 inches; 191 x 127 mm.). [2], [1-10], 11-172 pp. Title-page printed in blue and black. Publisher's original gray linen over boards, front cover and spine decorated in red and lettered in black. Some light glue staining to paste-downs, as usual. In the original dust jacket printed in blue and gray, spine somewhat darkened, with wear to extremities. A very good copy in a fair dust jacket. With a striking Art Deco pictorial bookplate of William Rankin on the front free endpaper, signed "Artemis" in the plate - a finely executed early twentieth-century design featuring stylized allegorical female figures. Issued in the same year as the novel, this dramatic adaptation of Of Mice and Men represents Steinbeck's own reworking of his most enduring early work for the stage. The play opened on Broadway in November 1937 and was an immediate success, winning the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award. As such, this edition occupies a unique place in the Steinbeck canon - bridging fiction and theater at the moment of the author's ascent to major literary prominence. Goldstone & Payne A8a. .