Description
Two early drafts of an article for the Sunday Times by John Steinbeck, describing the status of migrant families like the one in The Grapes of Wrath.
The article is in two forms: a first draft in Steinbeck’s hand and a second typed with edits. Pencil on yellow legal sheets, measures 12.5″ x 8″. Six pages of corrected typescript, measures 11″ x 8.5″. Both documents are undated. Both documents bound at top left corner with staple. Small creases to tips of leaves, in truly near fine condition. Housed in a clear archival sleeve.
In the article, Steinbeck updates his readers on the status of migrant families in California, like the subjects of The Grapes of Wrath. He defends the tenacity of migrants and their determination to work the land and earn their wealth. Additionally, Steinbeck describes political and environmental concerns in 1960s California, including dramatic population increase and water shortages.
He concludes the article, acknowledging the advancements of the western frontier, stating: “This is all to the good, perhaps, but it is nothing I recognize.”
There is no mention of a Sunday Times article written by John Steinbeck in the Goldstone bibliography. No date is listed within the work, and no record of the published article can be found through our research. In the draft, Steinbeck writes that “this year, it [California] will have the largest population of any of our states”. California first surpassed New York as the most populous state in 1962 (Brown, 32nd Gov. of California). With this in mind, we estimate the article was written between 1962 and 1963.
(Provenance: Bloomsbury Auctions, 2010.)
