Criticize, Signed (3 results)

Condition: Very Good. Signed Copy . Signed/Inscribed by author on half title page.

Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. The book is in very good condition, little to no shelf rubbing apparent, text is signed on the reverse of the front cover by the author, text is otherwise clean and clear throughout. 'Housepets! Don't Criticize Your Lovelife collects the fifth year of the comic, including the story arcs Let's Imaginate Guys and Dolls!, Tesing Grounds, Taking Cover, Getting Physical, Psycon, Psycon 2: Psyconner, The Retroactively Continuous Advanetures of Spot, Temple Crashers, All Hallow's Ween, The Unbearable Lightness of Bieng a Dog, One's Cat's Treasure, Love And War, Jack of One Trade, The King and I, plus food, shelter and love!' 52 pages. 8.5 x 11 inches. Size: 4to - over 9¾ - 12" tall. Inscribed by Author(s). Book.

Hardcover. First U.S. edition. This jacketed U.S. first edition is a notable presentation copy, tying together three men the book's author, the Introduction's author, and the person to whom the book was inscribed. All three would be dramatically affected by the ascendance of Hitler a year later. The author's intriguing inked inscription on the front free endpaper verso in 7 lines reads: "Allah is Allah | and Mohammed is the Prophet of Allah | and the author of The Mahdi of Allah | still loves his friend | Consul Paul Schwarz. | Vienna, April 1932 | Richard A. Bermann". Condition is good in a good dust jacket, both the volume and jacket intact, but showing some age and wear. The red cloth binding remains square and tight with some spine toning and staining to the upper rear board. The contents remain free of spotting with overall age-toning and some transfer browning to the endpapers from the pastedown glue. The dust jacket retains the original "$2.50" lower front flap price and shows good color overall. We note modest toning to the jacket spine, shallow chipping and overall wear to extremities, with clear tape reinforcement to the jacket verso at the spine ends, hinges, and flap folds. The dust jacket is protected with a clear, removable, archival cover. Paul Schwarz (1882-1951) was the German Consul General in New York, fired by Hitler when he came to power. Hitler became Chancellor on 30 January 1933 and consolidated dictatorial powers by late March. In early April, Schwarz became one of two diplomatic officials in the United States to be removed by Hitler (along with the German Ambassador). "Of the two, and in fact, of all the German foreign service, only Schwarz was moved to disaffiliate himself publicly from the Nazi regime." (Paul Seabury, The Wilhelmstrasse: A Study of German Diplomats Under the Nazi Regime) "I am at odds with the bigoted policies of the new regime" Schwarz told American newspapermen on April 11. "I feel honored for I am the only German consul to be dismissed by Hitler as far as I know." It is noteworthy that Schwarz was reportedly not Jewish. His expulsion was partially attributed to his entertaining Professor and Mrs. Albert Einstein at tea in his private residence. Schwarz became an American citizen, was employed as an investment counselor, and supplied information about the Nazi regime to the OSS after it was created in 1942. The author, Richard A. Bermann (1883-1939), shared his friend's sympathies and, ultimately, his exile. He became a co-founder of the German Academy in Exile, established in 1936 as a platform for German intellectuals in America to speak out against Hitler. Up to his death (in 1939 in New York) he remained intensively engaged in the work of the American Guild for Cultural Freedom. This U.S. first edition features a substantial introduction by Winston Churchill, advertised on the dust jacket's lower front panel. Mohammed Ahmed was a messianic Islamic leader in central and northern Sudan. In 1883, Mahdists overwhelmed the Egyptian army of William Hicks and Great Britain ordered withdrawal from the Sudan. In 1885, General Gordon famously lost his life in a doomed defense of Khartoum, where he had been sent to lead evacuation of Egyptian forces. In 1898, General Kitchener reoccupied the Sudan. With Kitchener was a very young Winston Churchill, then a war correspondent and cavalry officer who participated in the decisive battle of Omdurman. Churchill wrote his second published book - The River War - about the British campaign. In 1931, Churchill wrote a four-page introduction for the English translation of Bermann's book. Churchill's broadminded understanding remains compelling: "It is interesting to know that [the Mahdi's] operations with fire and sword through the Sudan were based on a religious enthusiasm as sincere and philanthropic as that which inspired Saint Dominic or General Booth." Reference: Cohen B47.2, Woods B17.