Description
Presentation copy for President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, The Quest of the Romanoff Treasure by Armand Hammer.
Octavo, x, 241pp. Tan cloth, title in gilt on spine, emblem on front panel in gilt. Stated on copyright page: “Third Edition, of which 1200 copies on special paper are reserved for the author and his friends and clients.” In the publisher’s dust jacket, $3.00 on front flap, wear at edges, some loss at top of spine, bright illustrations on cover and spine.
Signed by the author on front free end paper: “To President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, with all good wishes from Dr. Armand Hammer / New York / Sept. 15, 1961.”
Provenance: This copy was originally sold at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Estate Sale at Sotheby’s, Lot 679, April 23-26, 1996.
The day this book was inscribed, Dr. Hammer and Rep. James Roosevelt, met with President Kennedy in a private meeting at the White House. According to Dr. Hammer, he had been approached by Kennedy in early 1961 to “open new lines of communication with Mr. Khrushchev, following the summit breakdown after the U-2 incident.” Historians believe this was an attempt by the Kennedy Administration to develop economic contacts within the Soviet Union, not diplomatic ties, but it was embellished to full effect by Dr. Hammer in articles and his future autobiography.
