HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE, SIGNED BY DALE CARNEGIE
CARNEGIE, Dale. How to Win Friends and Influence People. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1939. Octavo, original red cloth, original dust jacket.
Early printing of this wildly influential self-help book, signed by Dale Carnegie, in scarce original dust jacket.
Carnegie, a humble salesman from Missouri, began offering public speaking courses in 1912; while successful as a teacher, he did not begin to focus on writing and self-help until 1926. "In 1936 Carnegie hit the jackpot with his book How to Win Friends and Influence People. It was an immediate bestseller, and brought a great demand for lectures, periodical articles, and even a syndicated newspaper column. In a short period this book of 'common-sense advice' was translated into 30 languages, and by 1986 it had sold more than 15 million copies. It was even adopted by the Army Air Corps Forces Officer's Candidate School in Miami, Florida. The book's theme is quite simple: smile, support the ethic of cooperation, see others' points of view, avoid criticism, and emphasize the golden rule. The emphasis was on positive thinking, and the book was a lineal descendant of 19th-century success books like the Horatio Alger series. The structure of the book was also simple, using biographical sketches of great figures from history. Carnegie sold enthusiasm, and his exuberant style offered inspirational stories as a secret formula for success" (ANB). "How to Win Friends and Influence People would go through dozens of reprintings in subsequent years, ultimately selling more than 30 million copies worldwide over the next few decades. It became one of the best selling nonfiction books in American history—it sells in the six figures yearly even now—with some ranking it behind the Bible and Dr. Benjamin Spock's Practical Guide to Baby and Child Care" (Watts, Self-Help Messiah, 3). First published in 1936. This copy is the 36th edition, published three years after the first. The publisher has numbered it "739249" on the dust jacket, suggesting that the dust jacket may have been supplied from a slightly earlier copy as the copyright page refers to a "total of 1,030,000 copies" published. However, matching tape residue on the dust jacket flaps and endpapers suggest that the dust jacket was originally paired with this book or supplied at an early date. With rear leaf of publisher's advertisements. Bookplate and owner signature of Lucinda de Leftwich Temple, principal of the El Paso School for Girls/Radford School and a dedicated collector of art, objects, ephemera, and, of course, books like this one.
Book with tape residue to endpapers, dust jacket with slight rubbing to edges, faint tape residue to flap edges, and some reinforcement along verso edges. A handsome, exceptionally good signed copy.