"NO ONE EMBODIED THE AMERICAN DREAM… OR CREATED A MORE ENDURING LEGEND THAN JOE DIMAGGIO"

DIMAGGIO, Joe. Lucky to Be a Yankee. New York: Rudolph Field (Greenberg), (1946). Octavo, original green pictorial stiff paper wrappers. $950.

First edition of this early and very elusive biography of Joe DiMaggio, "packed with insights about his career," containing 32 game-photographs of the Yankees, in original pictorial wrappers with "Joltin' Joe" on the front cover.

"No one more embodied the American dream of fame and fortune or created a more enduring legend than Joe DiMaggio… He was called the Yankee Clipper and was acclaimed at baseball's centennial in 1969 as 'the greatest living ballplayer,' the man who in 1,736 games with the Yankees had a career batting average of .325 and hit 361 home runs while striking out only 369 times, one of baseball's most amazing statistics" (New York Times). "DiMaggio was a man of few words. That's why his autobiography, Lucky to Be a Yankee, first published while he still was playing, was a treat for his fans… the book is packed with insights about his career, his fellow ballplayers and the national pastime that he played so gracefully" (PBS/American Experience). Dubbed "Jolting Joe," he recalls his development from "a gawky, awkward kid" to one of the baseball's finest athletes. Many rate his 56-consecutive-game hitting streak in 1941 as the top baseball feat of all time. First edition: issued same year as cloth edition, no priority established. Introduction by James A. Farley. Foreword by sportswriter Grantland Rice. With 32 illustrations, including full-page pictures of DiMaggio and other Yankee legends such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ty Cobb. Smith 12295. Grobani 8-39.

Interior quite fresh with four untrimmed leaves (as issued), mere trace of rubbing to original wrappers. A colorful near-fine copy.