Various (Luce, Henry (Editor); Hellman, Geoffrey T.; Hirohito; Roosevelt, Franklin D.; Saroyan, William; Willkie, Wendell et al.)

LIFE Vol. 9 No. 21 (November 18, 1940)

New York, NY, USA: Roy E. Larson, 1940. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. "At the polls of America, as at the Judgement Seat of God, all men are equal. Franklin D. Roosevelt, standing with his wife and mother at the polls in Hyde Park shortly after noon on Nov. 5, was only one of 50,000,000 citizens, his vote no weightier than that of the least of them. But before the day was out there had come to him, by his own vote and those of 26,300,000 others, as great an opportunity as any man had ever had to achieve immortal greatness. By the direst of times, the soul of Franklin Roosevelt was now to be tried as few men's had ever been before." (pg. 25) A vintage late 1940 issue of the large, glossy photo-filled iconic magazine edited by Henry Luce (1898-1967), a pillar of the TIME-LIFE-FORTUNE triumvirate of the "Establishment" media during the "American Century" (Burroughsian Third Minds get our drift...). Featuring a photo-essay on the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) for an unprecedented third term as President of the USA as the ever-expanding Second World War beckoned. FDR is shown voting (presumably for himself) on election day, which fell on November 5 of that year. With historic hindsight, what may have seemed hyperbole then in real time (as quoted above) was all-too-justified, & FDR would survive barely a few months into his even-more-unprecedented fourth term in 1945, after guiding the nation to the edge of victory in the global conflagration it was finally provoked into joining as of December 7, 1941. Speaking of that, also in this issue, the full-page "Picture of the Week" shows the bemedaled Emperor Hirohito of Japan looking through binoculars as he "...reviews his fleet on/ the mythical 2,600th birthday of his family," his left hand on his ceremonial sword. With articles on Republican losing Presidential candidate Wendell Willkie & winners/losers in various other positions in the election; a lengthy "close-Up" article with photos & illustrations about William Saroyan (1908-1981), the acclaimed Armenian-American playwright & novelist, datedly entitled "The Great Saroyan:/ Fresno's Elfish Armenian Boy Has the Time/ of his Life Becoming a Famous Playwright" by Geoffrey T. Hellman; & much more. With those amazing contemporary ads where clearly delineated, impossibly suave fedora or tuxedo-wearing men & their smartly dressed submissive women & children rapturously admire the latest automobiles, clothing, booze, cigarettes, cigars (with reference to Havana!), gadgetry & other consumer goods as America emerged out of the Great Depression & was gearing up for war. Large-format magazine in stapled wrappers, complete except for subscription card which was likely loose & removed from this apparently non-subscriber newsstand copy, assumed first-&-only printing. From the collection of Barbara (1935-2023) & Irving (1933-2018) Nusbaum, world travellers, connoisseurs, eminent collectors of art & books- the dearly missed mother & father of this still-grieving writer. My parents shared their early childhood memories of the later FDR administration that they were born into, & it's likely they received this as a gift from myself for us to savor & discuss. A classic real-time-capsule of an issue in this most-collectible series, with distinguished provenance. In relatively quite near-fine-to-fine condition with mild rubbing, mostly faint scratching & light age-toning to front, back covers & stapled spine; slight wear & some tiny bumps, creases at/from edges & corners of same; short, mostly closed tears at upper & lower spine-edges, corners with minimal loss of paper, surface paper; mild-to-moderate rubbing, age-toning to edges of text block. Interior fine with mild-to-moderate age-toning to inner covers & page leaves, chiefly at blank margins/edges; tiny bumps & small, faint creases at corners & occasionally onto side-edges of some leaves. Near Fine- Fine. [Item #9045]

Price: $35.00 save 10% $31.50