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First Edition (NAP, John Day= NAP). So it turns out that the Secretary of the Navy during World War II may have had a soft spot in his heart for tree sparrows. The book is inscribed to him by the author on the first front end paper. The inscription reads 'To The Honorable Frank Knox Secretary of the Navy, Congratulations on your good work. With Kindest Regards and Best Wishes, Virginia Holton, August 21, 1940, New York City.' Knox had been named as Secretary of the Navy in July of 1940. He was also the Republican vice presidential candidate for president in 1936. Once listed, this will be the Only signed copy of the book for sale anywhere on the Internet. From his Wikipedia profile: 'William Franklin Knox was an American politician, newspaper editor and publisher. He was also the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1936, and Secretary of the Navy under Franklin D. Roosevelt during most of World War II. On December 7th, 1941, Knox flanked by his assistant John O'Keefe walked into Roosevelt's White House study at approximately 1:30 PM EST announcing that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. Knox was mentioned by name in Adolf Hitler's speech of December 11, 1941, in which Hitler asked for a German declaration of war against the United States. Born in Boston, he attended Alma College and served with the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War. After the war, he became a newspaper editor in Grand Rapids, Michigan and a prominent supporter of the Republican Party. He advocated U.S. entrance into World War I and served as an artillery officer in France. The 1936 Republican National Convention nominated a ticket of Alf Landon and Knox, and they were defeated by Roosevelt and John Nance Garner in the 1936 election. After World War II broke out, Knox supported aid to the Allies. In 1940, Roosevelt appointed him as Secretary of the Navy in hopes of building bipartisan support. He presided over a naval buildup and pushed for the internment of Japanese Americans. Knox served as Secretary of the Navy until his death in 1944.' From 1940 to 1944, he took very good care of this book. And over the last almost 80 years the good care has continued. Remarkably, the book can be accurately rated Near Fine. You can see the yellow covers in the photos. They are quite clean. There's a speck of a spot on the spine. The black lettering and design on the front and the black lettering on the spine, are both bright and unworn. The corners and edges are in very good shape. The spine ends have just a little bit of crinkling. The top page edge is a dark red or maroon. It is very clean. The middle and bottom page edges are also clean. The book is pretty square, the spine has only a very slight forward lean. The book is quite solidly bound from cover to cover with nicely tight pages and nicely tight covers as well. The pages look exceptionally clean. In scrolling through, I didn't see any conspicuous soiling. Including the frontispiece, there are eight full-page black-and-white illustrations scattered throughout the book. They all appear to be in excellent condition. One has a very minor spot in the white blank margin just off the bottom edge of the photograph. I'm not seeing any creasing on the pages. There are no markings. There are no attachments. And with the exception of the author's signed inscription, no one has written their name or anything else anywhere in the book. By the way, there's a quite funny review of this book by a M. M. Nice. You can find it by googling 'Virginia Holton the beeps' and scrolling down to the fifth entry titled Ornithological Literature. It's the eighth review down from the top. Seller Inventory # 003643
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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Beeps: The Flights And Cruises Of Three ...
Publisher: The John Day Company, New York
Publication Date: 1939
Binding: Hardcover
Illustrator: Photographs by C. M. Holton
Condition: Near Fine
Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition
