Description
First edition, first printing of Masters of Deceit, signed by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Los Angeles County Sheriff, Peter J. Pitchess.
Octavo, 374pp. Red cloth binding with gilt title on spine and front cover, facsimile signature in gilt over black. Solid text block, touch of wear to tips of spine. In publisher’s first state dust jacket, $5.00 retail price on front flap, short closed tear along hinge of spine, bright colors and illustrations.
Inscribed on the front free endpaper: “To Loyd Dodson, Best Wishes, J. Edgar Hoover / 3.3.58.”
Additional inscription on rear endpaper: “To Loyd from an Ex-FBI Agent, Sheriff Peter J. Pitchess.”
Another inscription reads: “A real pleasure Loyd / Webb Burke / FBI Los Angeles 2-14-60.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Peter J. Pitchess served from 1958-1981, modernizing the Sheriff’s Department and becoming a model for departments across the United States. His name is well known as the defendant in Pitchess v. Superior Court, which now allows defendants to obtain records of public complaints against police officers. Obtaining such a record is called a “Pitchess Motion.”
The author of this book, J. Edgar Hoover (1895-1972) was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the author of several books during his lifetime. His first book was Persons in Hiding published in 1938, a fictionalized account of FBI investigations. It was followed by Masters of Deceit: The Story of Communism in America and How to Fight It published in 1958, focusing on the perceived threat of communism within the United States, and later A Study of Communism, published in 1962. His books were instrumental in shaping public perception of the FBI and its role in combating perceived threats to American democracy.
