signed first edition Hardcover
1939 · New York
by Bessie, Alvah
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Very Good in Poor dj. 1939. First Edition. Hardcover. [a good sound copy, modest shelfwear, some age-toning and discoloration to endpapers, a bit of staining on the rear cover; the jacket, unfortunately, is missing more than 1/3 of the lower spine, part of a large tear that extends into the front panel, with another tiny chip at the bottom of the front panel, an additional bit of paper loss at the top of the spine, and some white smudging on the front panel]. INSCRIBED by the author on the half-title page: "for Max Landy[?], who / probably enjoys this / book *almost* as much / as I do -- / Haste pronto / Al Bessie / only 34 years / after the events / described." Bessie, a screenwriter who was later blacklisted as a member of the "Hollywood Ten," famously served with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War, and here depicts the war "as experienced by an American who, as a soldier, was in the midst of a tragic, historic drama as it was being unfolded; and his pages form a unique, authentic record of this epochal chapter in the history of our times." Signed by Author . (Inventory #: 30065)