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Wearing an old skipper’s cap, John Steinbeck enjoys a stroll with his famous French poodle, Charley, the hero of “Travels with Charley.”
Bettmann Archive/Getty ImagesA rare trove of personal letters, diaries and other belongings once owned by author John Steinbeck is hitting the auction block — and some items may go for more than $350,000.
Although many of Steinbeck’s writings are now housed in museums and university archives, this collection comes straight from his family. Bonhams auction house is selling the items in conjunction with the family of Mary Steinbeck Dekker, one of Steinbeck’s three sisters. Among the listed items is “a vast archive” of letters between John and Mary; although no additional details were provided by Bonhams, the letters no doubt provide a fascinating window into decades of Steinbeck’s personal life. The price indicates their worth to literary collectors: Bonhams is expecting the lot to sell for between $250,000 and $350,000.
A melancholy single letter is being auctioned off separately. Dated Jan. 5, 1949, the letter to his young sons, Thomas and John, reads: “You are funny little boys now and I miss you so. I feel cheated sometimes that I cannot see you growing and be a part of it…” It dates from the period after his marriage with Gwyn Conger dissolved the year before. According to Bonhams, the “self-pitying letter” was found “tucked into one of Steinbeck’s journals from the same year.” Bonhams describes the letter as a draft, “likely never sent.”
From that same time period is a 1949 diary reflecting on some of the worst times of Steinbeck’s life following his divorce and the death of close friend Ed Ricketts. “I don’t suppose anyone ever so hated a year as I hated 1948… Wife, children, best friend all gone. But perhaps it toughened me. I hope so,” he wrote in it.
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There is also an original manuscript of his first novel “Cup of Gold,” which is annotated by an unknown editor, as well as by Steinbeck himself; first editions of “Tortilla Flat,” “The Pastures of Heaven” and “Cup of Gold” inscribed and given to Dekker by Steinbeck; and a “heretofore unknown Steinbeck journal” spanning February to March 1938 while he worked on “The Grapes of Wrath.” For the true Steinbeck fanatic, there’s even a 6-inch lock of his hair up for sale.
The auction is scheduled to take place on Oct. 25.