A STANDOUT in the Steinbeck canon, "Cup of Gold" is edgy and adventurous, brash and distrustful of society, and sure to add a new dimension to the common perception of this all-American writer. Steinbeck's first novel and sole work of historical fiction contains themes that resonate throughout the author's prodigious body of work.
From the mid-1650s through the 1660s, Henry Morgan, a pirate and outlaw of legendary viciousness, ruled the Spanish Main. He ravaged the coasts of Cuba and America, striking terror wherever he went. And he had two driving ambitions: to possess the beautiful woman called La Santa Roja, and to conquer Panama, the ?cup of gold.?

Trailblazing marine biologist, visionary conservationist, deep ecology philosopher, Edward F. Ricketts (1897-1948) has reached legendary status in the California mythos. A true polymath and a thinker ahead of his time, Ricketts was a scientist who worked in passionate collaboration with many of his friends - artists, writers, and influential intellectual figures - including, perhaps most famously, John Steinbeck, who once said that Ricketts' mind 'had no horizons.' This unprecedented collection, featuring previously unpublished pieces as well as others available for the first time in their original form, reflects the wide scope of Ricketts' scientific, philosophical, and literary interests during the years he lived and worked on Cannery Row in Monterey, California. These writings, which together illuminate the evolution of Ricketts' unique, holistic approach to science, include 'Verbatim transcription of notes on the Gulf of California trip,' the basic manuscript for Steinbeck's and Ricketts' Log from the Sea of Cortez; the essays "The Philosophy of Breaking Through" and "A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry;" several shorter pieces on topics including collecting invertebrates and the impact of modernization on Mexican village life; and more. An engaging critical biography and a number of rare photographs offer a new and richly detailed view of Ricketts' life.