About this Item
First Edition (NAP, Reinhold Publishing= NAP). This is a terrific Association Copy between two international balladeers, the author Eugene Raskin (who also knew little bit about architecture) and the actor/musician Theodore Bikel. The signed inscription is on the gray first front end paper. It reads 'To Theo-- with much love and mutual adoration, Gene.' Across the way on the front inside cover is the small bookplate of Theo Bikel. Once listed, this will be the Only signed copy of this book for sale anywhere on the Internet. You can see the orange and gray covers in the photos provided. They are pretty clean. There is a little bit of darkening or toning off the front top edge. The wear on the covers consists of a small bump crease at the front top corner, a tiny crease at the rear bottom corner, very light rubbing at a couple of corners (no rub-through), some crinkling at the spine ends, and a vertical crease on the spine. The gilt lettering on the spine is quite legible, but doesn't jump out at you against the gray background. The spine has a very slight lean, but the book is solidly bound from cover to cover, the pages are pretty tight, and the covers are nicely tight. The pages are, in the main, exceptionally clean. I found one page in the text with a little spot on its margin and one page in the Introduction with a spot just off its outer edge. The page just opposite it has two light spots on the print, having no bearing on one's ability to read. Other than that, the pages look fairly pristine. I didn't see any creasing on any of them. There are no markings. No attachments other than Mr. Bekel's bookplate, and no writing other than the author's signed inscription. The illustrations, and there are many, are by the famous satiric cartoonist and illustrator Robert Osborn. The dust jacket is in rather rough shape. It has a 2 inch loss off the bottom edge of the spine. There's another loss off the top edge of the front. There are two tears along the spine, and the rear cover is fairly soiled. The front and spine for that matter are too. There's some spotting on the flaps as well. The jacket is NOT price-clipped, not clipped at all. So, basically I'm selling this book as a book without a jacket. I will put the jacket in a fitted protective cover and the buyer can decide whether or not they wish to keep it on the book. 'Eugene Raskin or Gene Raskin (1909-2004), was an American musician and playwright, author of the lyrics of the English version of the Russian song "Those Were the Days" and also of three books on architecture. He was adjunct professor of architecture at Columbia University from 1936 to 1976. He wrote three plays: in 1949 One's a Crowd, a comedy about an atomic scientist who develops four personalities after his experiments go horribly wrong, and in 1951 a romantic play entitled Amata, and later a play titled, The Old Friend. In 1954, Raskin published Architecturally Speaking. Sequel to Cities came in 1971 and Architecture and People in 1974. He also wrote a novel, Stranger in my Arms. In the early 1960s, Raskin and his wife Francesca played folk music around Greenwich Village in New York. They released an album that included "Those Were The Days", which was initially taken up by the Limeliters. He and his wife Francesca were international balladeers for years and recorded several albums for Elektra Records. They played London's Blue Angel every year and always closed their show with Those Were the Days. Paul McCartney frequented the club when they were performing and, when the Beatles formed the Apple label, they recorded Mary Hopkin singing Those Were the Days, the right to which had been purchased by Paul McCartney through his agent and Eugene Raskin's agent.' You can read about Theodore Bikel's illustrious career in his Wikipedia profile. Put aside some time. Seller Inventory # 003384
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Bibliographic Details
Title: Architecturally Speaking (Signed and ...
Publisher: Reinhold Publishing, New York
Publication Date: 1954
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: Robert Osborn
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Fair
Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition
