“IN APPRECIATION OF A KINDRED SPIRIT": FIRST EDITION OF SAMUEL GOMPERS' LABOR IN EUROPE AND AMERICA, WARMLY INSCRIBED BY HIM
GOMPERS, Samuel. Labor in Europe and America. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1910. Octavo, original blue cloth, top edge gilt. $2000.
First edition of famed AFL co-founder and president Gompers' controversial 1910 work contrasting labor movements in Europe and America, warmly inscribed: "In appreciation of a kindred spirit William O. Thompson By the Author. Saml. Gompers. Jan. 25. 1914. New York City," scarce in original gilt-lettered cloth.
Legendary co-founder and first president of the American Federation of Labor, "Samuel Gompers was elected president of the AFL in 1886, as he would be every year after, save one, until his death… leaving behind a legacy that, in both its victories and its failures, would profoundly influence the American labor movement for decades yet to come" (ANB). Labor in Europe and America reflects Gompers' views on global labor issues following a 1909 trip abroad, where he attended major conferences and "made studies of the labor movement and the conditions of the wage-workers." Gompers especially contrasts labor movements and workers in Europe and the United States, concluding: "The Old World is not our world… All the people of the globe may be on the broad highway to social justice… but the nations and governments have not reached the same points on the road. In the procession, America is first." Containing frontispiece with facsimile signature below portrait. The inscribee, William O. Thompson, was the president of Ohio State University. Tiny bookseller ticket.
Inner paper hinge reinforced. A very nearly fine copy.