Steinbeck, John. Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team. The Viking Press, 1942.

Price: US$3500.00 + shipping

Description: Written for the U.S. Army Air Forces. Inscribed by the author, "For (?) six lessons from Madame, John." Spine with some lean and darkened a shade. Spine tips rubbed and with a ding to upper front panel, still a good copy with hinges firm in a very good dust jacket with a few shallow chips and tiny creases to upper edges and with some toning and a short closed tear to rear panel in mylar cover.

Seller: THE HERMITAGE BOOKSHOP, Denver, CO, U.S.A.

Steinbeck, John. Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team.. The Viking Press, New York, 1942.

Price: US$9200.00 + shipping

Description: First edition of Steinbeck's riveting account of his experiences with several bomber crews of the U.S. Army Air Forces during WWII. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with 60 photographs by John Swope. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Dear Mr. Wilson, Many thanks for your lucid thoughts and interest in my work, John Steinbeck." The recipient, Edmund Wilson, was an American literary critic and progenitor of the Library of America publication series. His critical works helped foster public appreciation for many of the foremost American writers of the 20th century including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and William Faulkner. Steinbeck's inscription refers, in jest, to Wilson's harsh critique of his work in his 1941 publication The Boys in the Back Room: Notes on California Novelists. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. An exceptional association, linking these two great American men of letters. Steinbeck was commissioned to write the present volume by the United States Army Forces as part of an effort to increase Air Force recruitment and morale. In order to write the book, Steinbeck traveled more than 20,000 miles in 30 days, visiting dozens of training corps and flying fields with John Swopes, himself a flier who took the 60 photographs that illustrate the book documenting the various jobs needed to form a bombing team. All royalties of the author and photographer, as well as publishing profits, were endowed to the perpetual Air Forces Aid Society Trust Fund to provide emergency aid for the families of fliers lost in the line of duty.

Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.