Exploring Life: The Autobiography of Thomas A. Watson

Thomas A. Watson

Published by D. Appleton and Company, New York--London, 1926

About this Item

First Edition (Appleton '(1)' on the last page). You would've expected the publisher of Thomas A. Watson's autobiography to have created a large printing, or at least to have made a few phone calls to create a buzz. That very clearly was not the case. There are no more than a handful of copies of this book for sale on the Internet. A signed copy (sans jacket) with a cracked hinge and edge wear sold for $532.50 in auction in 2020, meaning the buyer paid at least $600.00. That's the only auction sale I found. My book, unfortunately, isn't signed but it's also a lot less expensive, and the hinges are solid and there isn't any edge wear. You can see the covers in the photos. They are very clean. There is one small white spot on the front ( looks more like a smooth scuff then a stain). The gilt lettering on the front is very bright. On the spine it's quite bright as well, although it doesn't pop out as much because of the backdrop of a faded blue color. There is a small squarish area three quarters of the way down the spine where it's a little bluer. I would guess there was some kind of sticker there. The edges and corners are in excellent shape. The spine ends have only minor crinkling. There is a crease right under the word 'Exploring' on the spine. It touches the letters 'E' an 'X' as well. The page edges look quite clean. The middle and bottom edges are deckled or rough-cut. They did a very good job. The book is nicely square and the spine is nicely straight. The binding is quite solid from cover to cover with nicely tight pages and nicely tight covers as well. The white inside covers and end papers are clean. The frontispiece illustration of Dr. Watson is very clean and in very good shape with just a light and thin crease off its top corner. The same light crease (not a turned-down corner) continues through to page 18, really not bad at all, check out the fourth photo. There's another top corner crease beginning around page 62, even lighter than the other (and again not a turned-down corner crease) over eight consecutive pages. All of the rest of the 315 pages appear to have evaded the hand of the creasing gods, with the exception of two thin little creases off the outer edge of two consecutive pages. So I would describe the condition of the pages as excellent. In fact, I'm not finding any soiling on any of them. They are exceptionally clean. I saw two consecutive bottom edges with a little nick, nothing much of anything. There are no markings in the book. No attachments of any kind. And, other than Alexander Graham Bell's signature, no one has written their name or anything else anywhere in the book. Was anybody hoping that wasn't a joke? He did die in 1922. 'Thomas Augustus Watson was an assistant to Alexander Graham Bell, notably in the invention of the telephone in 1876. As the recipient of the first telephone call-- although coming from just the next room-- his name became the first words ever said over the phone. "Mr. Watson-- Come here-- I want to see you," Bell said when first using the new invention, according to his laboratory notebook. Watson resigned from the Bell Telephone Company in 1881 at the age of 27. Using money from his royalties for participation in the invention of the telephone, Watson first tried his hand at farming. He became a fairly successful traveling Shakespearean actor for a time and then set up his own machine shop. In 1883 Watson founded the Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company. He soon began taking bids for building naval destroyers and by 1901 the Fore River Ship and Engine Company was one of the largest shipyards in America. It would later become one of the major shipyards during World War II, after being purchased by Bethlehem Steel Corporation. In 1915, Watson was in San Francisco to receive the first transcontinental telephone call, placed by Bell from the Telephone Building in New York City. President Wilson and the mayors of both cities were also involved in the call.'. Seller Inventory # 004046

Bibliographic Details

Title: Exploring Life: The Autobiography of Thomas ...

Publisher: D. Appleton and Company, New York--London

Publication Date: 1926

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st Edition