Description
First edition of Von Rundstedt: The Soldier and the Man, signed by the author and Rundstedt’s former Chief of Staff, Günther Blumentritt.
Octavo, 288pp. Blue cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine. First edition statement on copyright page. Faint rubbing to cloth, beginning of separation between frontispiece and title page, solid text block, a near fine example. In the publisher’s dust jacket, previously taped along edges, price clipped, a bright example. Housed in custom clamshell case. Signed on the front free endpaper: “Mr. Stephen W. Bumballin Freundschaft gewidmet! Günther Blumentritt, General der Infanterie a.D. Marburg a/Lahn, 18. April 1958.”
English translation: “Mr. Stephen W. Bumball, dedicated in friendship! Günther Blumentritt, General of the Infantry (ret.), Marburg a/Lahn, April 18, 1958.”
Günther Blumentritt (1892-1967) was instrumental in the planning of the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and the invasion of France in 1940, reporting directly to Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. In 1941, he was promoted to Chief of Staff of the German 4th Army, with the rank of general. He helped to plan the invasion of the Soviet Union, where his army was decimated by Soviet forces. Following the war, he was held as a prisoner-of-war until January 1948, then helped with the rearmament of Germany in the 1950s.
