Description
Signed limited edition of the Memoirs of Harry S. Truman, inscribed to the first female Treasurer of the United States, Georgia Neese Clark. Includes a TLS from Truman about her hostage situation in 1956.
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, small closed tear along heel of spine, otherwise fine examples. Gray endpapers. Housed in slipcases made specifically for this limited edition set, light shelf wear to boards, light soiling to labels, solid hinges.
The slipcase for “Year of Decisions” is signed on the side panel by Harry Truman. Only Volume I, “Year of Decisions” is inscribed, and reads: “To the Honorable Georgia Neese Clark Gray / with kindest regards and with appreciation of her friendship and her efficient public service! / Harry S. Truman / Independence / Jan. 28, 1956.”
The associated letter follows a hostage situation in 1956, when Mrs. Clark was held hostage at her bank in Richland, Kansas. Truman adds to the letter: “Saw in the noon paper that a bandit had been shot in your town – hope he’s the right one!”
Georgia Neese Clark (1898-1995) was the first woman appointed Treasurer of the United States, serving from June 1949 to January 1953 under President Harry S. Truman. A graduate in economics from Washburn College, she worked briefly as an actress in New York before returning to Kansas to manage her family’s bank during the Great Depression. A committed Democrat, she became Kansas’s Democratic National Committeewoman in 1936 and supported Truman’s 1948 presidential campaign. Following his victory, Truman appointed her Treasurer, making her the first woman whose signature appeared on U.S. currency.
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 from 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.
