NEW YORK (AP).- An auction of a trove of author John Steinbeck’s letters, manuscripts and photographs from his New York City apartment produced lackluster bidding on Wednesday, with half of the items failing to sell or fetching prices below their pre-sale estimates. The “Grapes of Wrath” author’s archive brought a total of $73,950 at Bloomsbury Auction. The auctioneer had predicted that the material would bring $200,000 to $250,000. Among the highlights that did not sell was Steinbeck’s acceptance speech for his 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature. It was one of 26 lots — out of 50 — that failed to find a buyer, the auctioneer said. Steinbeck, considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, lived in the East 72nd Street apartment with his third wife, Elaine, until his death in 1968. The Bloomsbury material dated from the early 1940s until his death and was being sold by Elaine Steinbeck’s heirs, the a