Description
First edition, first printing of The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama, inscribed to the president of the University of Chicago, Robert Zimmer.
Octavo, [6], 375pp. Black hardcover, gilt title on spine. Stated “first edition,” with a full number line on the copyright page. Publisher’s first state dust jacket, $25.00 on front flap, in fine condition.
Inscribed on the title page: “Robert – We look forward to your leadership at the University; all the best! Barack Obama.”
Robert J. Zimmer (1947-2023) was the president of the University of Chicago from 2006-2021, taking over after Barack Obama left for his short tenure in the United States Senate. Zimmer remained close to President Obama after he left Chicago, being nominated in 2011 to serve on the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation.
After the Obama presidency, Zimmer was instrumental in the successful effort to bring the Obama Presidential Center to the South side of Chicago. After his untimely death in 2023, Obama noted in a short obituary that Zimmer was “…a visionary leader and one of the most influential university presidents in the country.”
