"TO MY DARLING BRIDE, WITH ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD": RARE ASSOCIATION COPY OF THE JAPANESE SURRENDER AT TOKYO BAY, SPECIALLY PRINTED BY ADMIRAL TURNER AND WARMLY INSCRIBED BY HIM TO HIS WIFE LESS THAN TWO WEEKS AFTER RECEIVING THE SURRENDER ON THE U.S.S. MISSOURI IN THE FRONT RANK OF AMERICAN OFFICERS

(WORLD WAR II) TURNER, R(ichmond) K(elly). Souvenir Copy of the Instrument of Surrender of the Japanese Emperor and Government at Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945. [Honolulu?]: U.S. Navy, 1945. Quarto (measures 8 by 10 inches), three printed pages on two leaves of stiff laminated board respined at a later date with cloth tape. WITH: ARMY FORCES, MIDDLE PACIFIC. Souvenir of Radio Communications between Supreme Allied Headquarters and Japanese Imperial Headquarters. Fort Shafter, Honolulu, Hawaii: Headquarters, Army Forces, [1945]. Quarto (measures 8-1/2 by 11 inches), original printed paper wrappers, spiral bound. Together, two volumes. Housed together in a custom clamshell box. $12,500.

Rare inscribed special printing of the 'Instrument of Surrender,' one of very few specially printed for presentation by Admiral Richmond Kelly "Terrible" Turner—this copy presented by the admiral to his wife less than two weeks after receiving the surrender of the Japanese on board the U.S.S. Missouri, where Turner observed the proceedings from the first rank of American officers. Dated by him September 15, 1945, and inscribed, "To my darling bride, with all the love in the world, Kelly Turner." With a very scarce Souvenir of Radio Communications, containing all the missives received at Army Headquarters at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, from the tentative surrender of the Japanese on August 15, 1945, until the formal surrender signed on September 2.

In 1942, Admiral Turner was dispatched to the Pacific theater to take command of amphibious landing operations in the South Pacific. Over the next three years he helped plan and execute the conquest of Japanese positions on islands in the south, central and western Pacific, cutting his teeth as commander of the amphibious forces at Guadalcanal, the allies' first major offensive against the Empire of Japan. Turner would have been in charge of the amphibious component of the invasion of mainland Japan if not for the Japanese surrender following the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Accompanied by four later photographic prints: including three of Fleet Admiral Nimitz and General MacArthur countersigning the surrender, all three featuring Admiral Turner looking on from a prominent place in the front row.

Bit of soiling and edge-wear to Souvenir of Radio Communications. Near-fine, very scarce and desirable.