Description
First edition of Forty Years: 1903-1943, published by the Ford Motor Company.
Folio, measures 9.5 x 12.5″, 42pp, [2]. Blue hardcover, title in silver on front cover and spine. Patterned endpapers. No additional printings listed. Solid text block, sunning to spine, otherwise fine and bright. A unique piece with countless illustrations and photographs. Features a fold-out map of the world detailing the manufacturing locations, assembly plants, and sales offices. Includes a laid-in typed sheet dated “June, 1943,” detailing Edsel Ford’s involvement in the creation of this book before his final illness. Housed in the matching blue slipcase, sunning along edges, a near fine example.
Edsel Ford, the only son of Henry Ford, was born in 1893. He served as president of Ford Motor Company from 1919 until his death in 1943, when this volume was published. He is remembered for modernizing the company, promoting the creation of the iconic Lincoln Zephyr and Mercury models, and playing a key role in Ford’s transition to mass production during the war years.
