Details
STEINBECK, JOHN. Cannery Row. New York: Viking Press, 1945. 8vo, original canary-yellow cloth (slightly soiled, front inner hinge a bit tender), pictorial dust jacket (a little worn); cloth slipcase. FIRST EDITION, second binding (the first was buff cloth), THE DEDICATION COPY TO STEINBECK'S CLOSE FRIEND ED RICKETTS, inscribed by the author directly under the printed dedication (which reads: "For Ed Ricketts who knows why or should"): "With all the respect and affection this book implies John Steinbeck" (followed by small pictures of a fish and a bird). Goldstone & Payne A22b.
Steinbeck first met the marine biologist, philosopher, and ecologist Edward F. Ricketts in 1930 and spent much time in his Pacific Biological Laboratory in Cannery Row in Monterey. This laboratory, which collected and distributed biological specimens throughout the country, was to become the background for several of Steinbeck's writings--notably the novel Cannery Row itself, where Ricketts appears as the central character "Doc," around whom the story revolves. Other works resulting from this vital friendship in Steinbeck's life include The Sea of Cortez (a collaboration with Ricketts), The Log from the Sea of Cortez, and Sweet Thursday. In his memoir "About Ed" (in The Log from the Sea of Cortez, 1951), Steinbeck wrote: "Knowing Ed Ricketts was instant. After the first moment I knew him, and for the next eighteen years I knew him better than I knew anyone..."
Steinbeck first met the marine biologist, philosopher, and ecologist Edward F. Ricketts in 1930 and spent much time in his Pacific Biological Laboratory in Cannery Row in Monterey. This laboratory, which collected and distributed biological specimens throughout the country, was to become the background for several of Steinbeck's writings--notably the novel Cannery Row itself, where Ricketts appears as the central character "Doc," around whom the story revolves. Other works resulting from this vital friendship in Steinbeck's life include The Sea of Cortez (a collaboration with Ricketts), The Log from the Sea of Cortez, and Sweet Thursday. In his memoir "About Ed" (in The Log from the Sea of Cortez, 1951), Steinbeck wrote: "Knowing Ed Ricketts was instant. After the first moment I knew him, and for the next eighteen years I knew him better than I knew anyone..."
Provenance
Pencilled signature of Ed Ricketts and date "12/20/44" on front flyleaf (January was publication month).