Description
Signed limited edition of the Memoirs of Harry S. Truman, inscribed to his lifelong friend, Martin A. Lewis, Jr.
Thick octavo, [two volumes], xi, [1], 596pp; xi, [3], 594pp. Blue cloth, titles in gilt on spines over black labels. Top edge gilt. Both volumes appear unread. In the publisher’s acetate jackets, both fine. Gray endpapers. Housed in slipcases made specifically for this limited edition set, light shelf wear to boards, light soiling to labels, solid hinges. Both slipcases are signed on the side panel by Harry Truman.
Both volumes are inscribed on the half-title. Inscription in Volume I: “To my good friend / Martin Lewis / with affectionate regards and great appreciation of his friendship + good opinion of me / from Harry S. Truman / Independence / Dec. 22, 1955.” Inscription in Volume II: “To Martin Lewis / from / Harry S. Truman. 5/5/56.”
Martin A. Lewis, Jr., (1900-1973) was a lifelong friend of President Harry S. Truman.
Lewis, a Republican, served as the Chief of Missouri Parks and Refuges before he was appointed Missouri’s Director of Federal Re-employment in 1933. Before his appointment could be confirmed, the Pendergast machine intervened and secured the appointment for his friend, Harry S. Truman. Lewis went on to work at the federal Interstate Program of Highways, serving in the Truman and Eisenhower administrations.
This set of the Memoirs of Harry S. Truman is limited to 500 unnumbered copies. They were originally meant to be released to the public as a signed limited edition set for $35.00, but President Truman had no desire to profit off his signature. In a letter to Ken McCormick of Doubleday, dated July 1, 1955, Truman comments that “I cannot possibly enter into a program which would look as if I were selling autographs instead of a book. I want the book sold on its merit.” Doubleday sent President Truman 500 copies of the deluxe set, which he inscribed to dignitaries over the years. Not all of the 500 were distributed by the president, with a few remaining unsigned copies being sold at the Truman Library.
