Item 268 is perhaps the great American novel, and the greatest about the Great Depression. This is The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck. Published in 1939, it tells the story of Tom Joad and his family, forced to flee Oklahoma's dustbowl for hardly greener pastures in California. The book won a Pulitzer Prize, the film two Oscars. $7,500. Item 269 is another copy, very good, but not quite as good. $2,750.

Here is an item slightly off-topic for "modern" literature. It is a 1927 facsimile edition of William Blake's Songs of Experience, first published in 1795. That's a bit aged for modern. $100. However, item 27 makes up for it. It is the very modern The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Published in 2003, it shows how quickly a book can become collectible if it really catches on. $375.

Ken Lopez Bookseller may be found online at www.lopezbooks.com, telephone 413-584-4827.