The Bosses.
New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, [1964]. Hardcover. 8vo. Red and black cloth with gilt spine lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 349pp. Very good/very good. Faintest of binding wear; jacket lightly edgeworn, with spine sunned. Item #51193
Tight and nice first edition of this (as jacket front panel proclaims) "flamboyant story of America's political bosses, from Tammany to today." Paper-clipped to top of front flyleaf (where it's been since 1964) is Martin's heavy stock 3½" X 1 3/4" printed "With the Compliments of the Author" card and this copy hails from the library of Adlai E. Stevenson II (1900-65), Illinois governor and twice Democratic presidential candidate, and after him that of his son, Illinois Senator Adlai E. Stevenson III (1930-2021). It's not surprising that Martin would gift a copy to Stevenson, as he was a long-time admirer, having been a volunteer in the 1952 presidential campaign. It was he who persuaded John Steinbeck to write a foreword to the softbound collection of Stevenson's speeches that Random House published and for which Martin and another high-level volunteer wrote a brief biography. For some reason, "The Bosses" is exceptionally scarce -- and this presentation copy most unusual.
Price: $200.00