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4to. [194 pp (sections all separately paginated I-XIII, A1-A5).], w/ first 4 leaves litho-printed on recto only. Cream-coloured litho-printed softcovers, w/ "Released for Publication _________" on lower front cover, dittoed notice at lower right corner of "Distributed by Technical Information Section of the Bureau of Aeronautics," stapled at gutter margin as issued (minor soiling & spotting to front cover, minor rust to staples, minor bumping to corners, light scuff to fore-edge of textblock printed in multiple grades of paper as issued w/ some sections more toned than others), still a VG- copy, numbered in ink at lower right corner. First lithoprint edition, 3rd printing of 6000 total copies prepared by secretly lithoprinting in the Pentagon (NOT 1000 copies as previously posited by Coleman & others), in sections from modified dittoed versions which had been distributed under General Groves's orders to correct the master copies with eventually whole paragraphs deleted, or added in some chapters. This copy is entirely complete, with none of the often missing pages (especially p. VI-12), duplicates, or misbound signatures which often appear due to the speed and paper requirements, and also bears the colophon 25-56388-2M on page A5-1 at the rear, indicating this was one of those printed on the high-sulphide paper often bearing signatures of varying toning. As per Arnold Kramish (1923-2010), nuclear physicist who worked Oak Ridge, TN on the Manhattan Project, and at the behest of Harry Smyth, researched the printing history before 1985 of the original report, and determined that there were 2000 copies released initially past the dittoed and mimeograph versions to the press, and senior lab people. Due to early complaints of lack of access, another 2000 were released, followed by the much demanded 3rd release, all before Princeton University Press released their published print run less than 1 month later in 1945. The famed Smyth report, released to the public just after the United States had obliterated the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki using the first two atomic bombs at the end of World War II -- is "a remarkably full and candid account of the development work carried out. . . by the American-directed by internationally recruited team of physicists, under the code name of Manhattan District. . . ." The introduction opens with statement that "The purpose of this report is to describe the scientific and technical developments in this country since 1940 directed toward the military use of energy from Atomic nuclei." As an aside, it should be noted that Michael Zinman has the original Arnold Kramish TLS identifying the printing history, and an article is being prepared by Brett Tomlinson, noted historian of science. See: Printing and Mind of Man, 422e; Coleman, The Smyth Report: A Descriptive Checklist, Princeton University Library Chronicle, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Spring, 1976), No. 3 (pp. 206-207); For fuller explication of Linus Pauling's dittoed version at OSU (1 of 2 known survivor copies), see blog by Ann Bahde, Serifs and Secrecy: The Smyth Report in SCARC, Nov. 2, 2021.
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