FIRST EDITION OF PROFILES IN COURAGE, INSCRIBED BY JOHN F. KENNEDY
KENNEDY, John F. Profiles in Courage. New York: Harper & Brothers, (1956). Octavo, original half black cloth boards, original dust jacket. Housed in a custom clamshell box.
First edition, first printing, of Kennedy's Pulitzer-winning examination of "that most admirable of human virtues," inscribed : "To —— and —— —— with very best wishes. John Kennedy."
"A series of sketches of American politicians who risked their careers in the cause of principle… 'A man does what he must,' Kennedy wrote, '—in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures—and that is the basis of all human morality'… The book was popular history of high order, and it received the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957" (DAB 7: 420). First printing, with "First Edition" and publisher's code "M-E" (December 1955) on copyright page.
Book with faint stains to inscription page and light wear and faint soiling to binding, scarce dust jacket with a couple of faint stains to corners, a bit of wear to extremities, and two tape repairs to verso. Desirable inscribed.