"HOOVER LAID THE FRAMEWORK FOR WHAT HAS BECOME, ESSENTIALLY, MODERN AMERICAN CONSERVATISM": SCARCE PRESENTATION FIRST EDITIONS OF THREE VOLUMES IN HOOVER'S ADDRESSES UPON THE AMERICAN ROAD, EACH INSCRIBED BY PRESIDENT HOOVER, ALONG WITH TWO TYPED LETTERS SIGNED BY HOOVER
HOOVER, Herbert. Addresses upon the American Road. 1933-1938. WITH: Addresses upon the American Road. World War II 1941-1945. WITH: Addresses upon the American Road. 1945-1948. New York / Toronto, New York, London: Charles Scribner's Sons / D. Van Nostrand, 1938, 1946, 1948. Three volumes. Octavo, original cloths, original dust jackets.
First editions of three major volumes in President Hoover's series of Addresses upon the American Road, spanning the Great Depression, WWII and the postwar years, each inscribed by Hoover to leading editor and publisher Malcolm Johnson, a co-founder of Armed Services Editions, with the volumes for 1933-1938 and 1941-45 each inscribed, "To Malcolm Johnson, With the good wishes of Herbert Hoover," and the volume for 1945-48 inscribed, "To Malcolm Johnson, With the devotion of Herbert Hoover," accompanied by two laid-in typed letters signed by Hoover to Johnson.
These volumes document Hoover's writings from the years of the Great Depression to post-WWII. It is a major collection that demonstrates how Hoover's "enthusiasm for efficiency in government and his passion for reduced costs made him a vigorous, exacting, and yet tactful leader" (Berdahl, Western Political Quarterly). The volume spanning 1933 to 1938 "contains the texts of many of his critical speeches of the time, showing what was at stake electorally in the face of New Deal Policies… In doing so, Hoover laid the framework for what has become, essentially, modern American conservatism" (Postell, Toward an American Conservatism, 249-50). The second volume, covering the years of WWII, includes his statement on the Declaration of War, the seminal April 1943 article, "An Approach to a Lasting Peace," the Japanese surrender and much more. The final volume, which features writings from 1945 to 1948, won praise on publication as both "interesting and important… On our list of our ex-Presidents, Hoover holds a shining place; for no predecessor has been a more anxious watcher over the nation's welfare or a more conscientious participant in activities for the good of the world" (New York Times). Accompanying the three inscribed volumes are two typed letters on Hoover's personal letterhead, signed by Hoover to their recipient, Malcolm Johnson, a top editor and publishing executive with Doubleday, Doran and D. Van Nostrand, who served on the executive committee of the Council on Books in Wartime, and was one of the key founders of Armed Services Editions, which arranged for printing millions of free books for America's soldiers. The first letter reads (typescript): "The Waldorf-Astoria Towers, New York 22, New York, October 5, 1948. My dear Malcolm: I have your letter to Miss Miller about the book on the Government reorganization. When these reports are filed with Congress (which they will be), they are open to any kind of public analysis and reprinting that anyone wants to do. Yours faithfully, [signed] HH [typescript] Mr. Malcolm Johnson, Vice-President, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 250 Fourth Avenue, New York 3, New York." The second letter reads (typescript): "The Waldorf-Astoria Towers, New York 22, New York, May 6, 1951. My dear Mr. Johnson: Thank you very much indeed for your letter of May 1st and its enclosure. I am very glad to have that book and I deeply appreciate your sending it. Yours faithfully, [signed] H.H. [typescript] Mr. Malcolm Johnson, D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 250 Fourth Avenue, New York 3, New York."
Faint soiling and light expert restoration to jackets. A very scarce inscribed presidential collection.