Description
Signed first edition of Public Works: A Dangerous Trade by Robert Moses.
Octavo, xxxvi, 952pp. Full navy blue morocco, title in gilt on red label affixed to spine. Top edge gilt, four gilt illustrations on the front cover. Marbled endpapers. No additional printings listed. Solid text block, a fine example. In the publisher’s glassine dust jacket. Signed by the author “To Annette and George / Robert Moses” on the dedication page.
Robert Moses (1888-1981) was an urban planner in New York City and served as the 49th Secretary of State of New York from 1927-1929. Throughout his forty-year career, Moses oversaw construction and function of Jones Beach State Park and the New York State Parkway System, and was acting head of the Triborough Bridge Authority. Despite his accomplishments in public affairs, Moses’s reputation was diminished with the publication of Robert Caro’s biography The Power Broker, which described Moses as a racist official who cut corners on budgeting and restricted access to city parks for lower-class families.
