Landmark Books in All Fields
ItemID: #118218
Cost: $48,500.00

Hand-corrected manuscript for Looking Forward

Franklin D. Roosevelt

"WHAT WAS LOANED BY OUR PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR GOVERNMENT MUST BE REPAID BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS TO OUR PEOPLE": THE FINAL MANUSCRIPT FOR FDR'S 1933 BOOK LOOKING FORWARD, HIS BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEW DEAL, WITH CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS IN ROOSEVELT'S HAND ON 22 LEAVES

ROOSEVELT, Franklin D. Hand-corrected manuscript for Looking Forward. No place,1933. 235 leaves measuring 8-1/2 by 11 inches, typing on recto, with corrections in Roosevelt's hand on 22 leaves, other corrections throughout in pencil. Housed in a large black ring binder with individual leaves placed back-to-back in mylar sleeves. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $48,500.

Manuscript draft of Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1933 book Looking Forward, his clarion call for a “new deal” that was published in the month of his inauguration, with Roosevelt's handwritten corrections in ink on 22 pages.

Published amidst the devastation of the Great Depression and in the same month as his inauguration, FDR's Looking Forward draws on major articles and speeches; it was an immediate best-seller. On publication the New York Times noted: "As President Roosevelt takes up the task of translating into terms of action his conception of the 'new deal' there comes from the press this book in which he sets forth his convictions as to why a new deal is necessary." Included are chapters on the reorganization of the government, taxation, agriculture, railroads, judicial reform and more. This extraordinary final draft, containing all but FDR's Inaugural Address (which had not been yet been delivered and was the last thing added to the book; it is present here in a photoreproduction of the manuscript for those pages), has additions, corrections and emendations by Roosevelt himself in ink on 22 pages, and numerous other pencil corrections and additions in an unknown hand. The lengthiest addition is found at the top of the first page of text, in which Roosevelt has added: "This is essentially a compilation from many articles written and speeches made prior to March 1, 1933. I have added parts which bind the material together as a whole." At the end of the introduction, he also strikes through "The White House," replacing it with "Hyde Park, March 1st 1933"—three days before his first Inauguration.

Roosevelt's marks in the manuscript, by leaf number:

5: Added to the top "This is essentially a compilation from many articles written and speeches made prior to March 1, 1933. I have added parts which bind the material together as a whole."

7: Added quotation marks to the phrase "pep talks."

8: Crossed out a paragraph and changed the word "The" to "My."

12: Crossed out "The White House" and added "Hyde Park March 1, 1933."

16: Added the word "generally."

63: Changed "I should thus reduce the cost of your Federal Government" to "I hope thus to reduces the cost of the regular operations of the Federal Government."

87: Added the word "State" to the phrase "The State Department of Labor."

102: Crossed out "census bureau" and wrote in "high officials"; crossed out "they will not be during my administration of the Federal Government, for" and wrote in "it is obvious that."

105: Added the word "Eastern" to the phrase "seven Eastern industrial states."

138: Crossed out "by my predecessor in the Presidency. When resubmitted to me I shall approve it" after the phrase "The bill was vetoed"; crossed out the word "will" and added "shall."

186: Crossed out "which concentrates its effort upon the handling of criminals once they are convicted" after the phrase "This is through a policy of prevention."

194: Crossed out the word "will" and added "shall"; changed "be succeeding" to "succeed."

210: Crossed out the word "the" in "the gross irregularities"; changed "even the great businesses" to "many great businesses"; changed "interests may not only have" to "interests not only may have."

211: Crossed out the word "criminal" in the phrase "could not have occurred without criminal collusion" and added to the end "and a purpose which violated good moral even if not the letter of the law."

212: Crossed out the word "criminal" in the phrase "the blocking of investigations by the cleverest legal devices that criminal minds could conceive" and added the phrase "lacking in old-fashioned honor" after the word "minds."

213: Changed "The old-fashioned ethics" to "Decent ethics"; changed "Annual reports of holding companies must show all changes in ownership in shares" to "Reports of holding companies must show actual ownership in shares and changes of ownership by officers and directors."

214: Crossed out the sentence "It should be in charge of the Department of Internal Revenue, which already is in close contact with corporations."

225: Crossed out "your new national administration says that the foreign debts owed the United States must be paid" and added "what was loaned by our people through their government must be repaid by foreign governments to our people."

227: Crossed out "A president must ask himself what he and his administration" and added "We must ask what an administration"; changed "He" to "We," "him" to "us," and "He and his administration" to "We."

229: Crossed out "as President" in "My responsibility as President."

230: Crossed out entire page of text.

231: Crossed out first paragraph of text.

Additionally, there are marks in pencil throughout the text, mostly dealing with grammar or page layout.

An important hand-corrected manuscript from a revered head of state.

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