Ogden Nash ~ THE OGDEN NASH POCKET BOOK ~ Signed by NASH, EDNA FERBER & Others

Description: Ogden Nash. THE OGDEN NASH POCKET BOOK. New York: Pocket Books, 1944. Softcover, 6.25” x 4.25”, 147 pages. Introduction by Louis Untermeyer. Few abrasions to spine, with minimal soiling to covers. Text is clean and crisp, with no marking or notations. No creasing to pages or to covers. Book appears unread. The importance of this small paperback volume is that it bears the signatures of not one but four literary idols of the 1940s. Each of their autographs, especially the last two noted below, would be a scarce find in any book today. The conjunction of all four is incredibly remarkable. They include: -- VINCENT McHUGH, poet and novelist, author of Blue Hen's Chickens, and the very popular novel I Am Thinking of My Darling, which became the basis for a movie starring George Peppard, Mary Tyler Moore and Dom DeLuise. -- FRANK GERVASI, wartime correspondent and author of Adolf Hitler, Thunder Over the Mediterranean, War Has Seven Faces, and author of The Case for Israel (with Foreward by Abba Eban) and co-author of Marshall Tito (with Winston Churchill). -- OGDEN NASH, author of this volume, often called The Laureate of Light Verse, the enormously gifted comic writer (“Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker”). His joyful wit made him a top radio and [later] TV personality. -- EDNA FERBER, brilliant Pulitzer Prize winner, whom critics lauded as the greatest American novelist of her day, celebrated author of So Big, Show Boat, Giant and Cimarron (the movie version won an Oscar). The appearance of autographs from four such notables invites the obvious question: what event would have brought them all together to sign one paperback book (and all, economically, in pencil)? The surprising answer is: War Bonds. Indeed, Edna Ferber was on the Advisory Council of the American Writers War Board during World War II. The Board's celebrity authors toured the nation in teams, speaking in towns across the country to promote the sale of War Bonds. The internet confirms that during the Fifth War Bond Drive in 1944, a lineup of authors including Edna Ferber, Ogden Nash and Vincent McHugh toured Pennsylvania, appearing in York at a War Bond Rally in June (see photo above). That same month, journalist Frank Gervasi joined the others in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Newspapers further report that local individuals who had sold the most Bonds were rewarded with a book or manuscript by one of the speaker-authors and autographed by all the celebrity speakers. This practice also accounts for Vincent McHugh's signed inscription on the title page “To Mary Field,” likely a local winner. The printed back cover of Nash's book, in the same vein, urges the faithful reader to send a copy of this book to someone in the armed forces. With its celebrity signatures, this humble volume stands as a treasured testament to American history and a fascinating, irreplaceable and first-class piece of World War II memorabilia. BONUS: Accompanying the book is a modern color reproduction postcard/bookmark of a popular War Bond poster issued by the U.S. Treasury in 1944 (see photo).

Price: 215 USD

Location: Baltimore, Maryland

End Time: 2025-01-12T21:58:14.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5.38 USD