Description
The first edition, first printing of Now It Can Be Told: The Story Of The Manhattan Project, inscribed by Gen. Leslie Groves.
The first edition, first printing of Now It Can Be Told: The Story Of The Manhattan Project, inscribed by General Leslie Groves. Octavo, xiv, 464pp, [2]. Black cloth, title stamped in gilt on the spine. Stated “First Edition,” with the first printing publication code “B-M” on the copyright page. Offsetting to title page from newspaper article. In the publisher’s first state dust jacket, $6.95 on the front flap, sunning to the spine, a few closed tears, a very good example.
This copy is inscribed by the author to Robert Shields, Jr., a geochemist from MIT, member of the US Army Engineering Corps, and the founder of Piedmont Mining Company. The inscription on the half title reads: “To Robert Shields Jr. – I hope this account will give you an inkling of the complexity of delving into the unknown. Leslie R. Groves.”
Lt. Gen. Leslie Richard Groves Jr. (1896-1970) was the director of the Manhattan Project during World War II. A West Point graduate of 1918, Groves initially worked on military construction projects, including the Pentagon, before being appointed in 1942 to oversee the development of the atomic bomb. He managed the project’s vast industrial, scientific, and logistical operations, coordinating work at sites such as Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hanford, and worked closely with J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Groves was portrayed by Matt Damon in the 2023 film, Oppenheimer, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture.
