Anthem (1946), Ayn Rand Signed First American Edition Inscribed to Her Hollywood Mentor Cecil B. DeMille....

Description

Anthem (1946), Ayn Rand Signed First American Edition Inscribed to Her Hollywood Mentor Cecil B. DeMille. First American edition, first printing, of Anthem by Ayn Rand (California: Pamphleteers, Inc., 1946). The softcover, measuring 8" x 6.5", is inscribed in blue ink by the author, "To Cecil B. DeMille -- / -- because you believe in Man's freedom -- / Ayn Rand / September 5, 1946". Retains DeMille's personal library bookplate on front end-page. Shortly after emigrating Russia to live in the United States, Ayn Rand had a chance meeting with famed director Cecil B. DeMille which led to work as an extra in this film The King of Kings (1927) and a subsequent job as a junior screenwriter. DeMille encouraged Rand's larger screenwriting aspirations which led to The Night of January 16th (1941), The Fountainhead (1949), and We the Living (1942). Anthem was first published in England in 1938 after it was refused publication in the U.S. It would not be published in America until Pamphleteers, Inc. brought it to press in 1946 in pamphlet form. Exhibits moisture spots and soiling with light creasing and foxing. Provenance: Following Cecil's death, the DeMille family gifted this book to Athol Wiggins, decades-long foreman of DeMille's Middle Ranch in Lake View Terrace, California. Comes with full LOA by Beckett Authentication Services.

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