Writer’s block at auction house

Mr. Parini said he hoped the buyer would make it available to scholars.

The sale also has several never-published Steinbeck works.

The writer had Ingrid Bergman in mind for “Vikings,” a film script adaptation of a Henrik Ibsen play that he began in 1954 but later abandoned, which Mr. Larson attributed to his restless nature and busy schedule. The 49-page draft work is estimated at $7,000 to $9,000.

Another project that was later abandoned was a 1957 reworking of “Don Quixote,” which Steinbeck titled “Don Keehan - The Marshal of Manchon.” Bloomsbury’s catalog says he had high hopes for it and even considered director Elia Kazan for a movie version with Fonda in the lead. The 114-page carbon typed corrected manuscript is estimated at $6,000 to $8,000.

An especially poignant memento is a briefcase belonging to Edward Ricketts, a longtime friend and collaborator who was the inspiration for the character of the lonely biologist Doc in “Cannery Row” and “Sweet Thursday.”

Estimated at $9,000 to $12,000, it contains, among other material, a Western Union telegram notifying Steinbeck of Ricketts‘ death. The marine biologist, who worked at the Pacific Biological Laboratories sardine canning factory in Monterey, Calif., was killed when a train struck his car in 1948. It devastated Steinbeck.

Among personal effects are his leather chair and globe, and a Courvoisier cognac box filled with tobacco pipes, reading glasses and leather billfolds.

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