CHARACTERS AND COMMENTARIES. [Publisher's Presentation Copy].

Strachey, Lytton.

Published by London: Chatto & Windus, 1933., 1933

About this Item

- Octavo, 8-1/2 inches high by 5-1/4 inches wide. Hardcover, bound in dark blue cloth titled in gilt on the spine. The spine is slightly faded and the top edge of the front cover is bumped. xi & 320 pages, illustrated with a photogravure portrait of the author serving as the frontispiece. The text block is cracked at the verso of the frontispiece. There are minor tiny chips to the front edge of the frontispiece. The fore edge is lightly foxed. Very good. First edition, edited by James Strachey, the brother of the author.Laid in is a Chatto & Windus compliments slip presenting the book to Lincoln MacVeagh and his wife and signed by C.H.C Prentice with his initials.From the library of Lincoln MacVeagh and his wife Margaret with their "Arcades Ambo" bookplate on the front paste down. Lincoln MacVeagh (1890-1972), a Renaissance man, graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in 1913. He went on to study languages at the Sorbonne and became fluent in German, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek and Classical Greek. After World War I he became a director of the Henry Holt and Company publishing firm where he became friendly with the poet Robert Frost. In 1923 he left the firm and founded the Dial Press. His name appears on the imprint of many of their publications. In 1933 President Roosevelt appointed him Minister to Greece. He followed presentation of his credentials with a speech in Classical Greek. While in Greece he conducted excavations beneath the Acropolis and made archeological contributions to the National Museum in Athens. He left Greece in 1941 when the German army over ran the country. From there he was appointed the first US Minister to Iceland where he negotiated agreements for the construction of the Keflavik airfield. In late 1942 he became Minister to the Union of South Africa and coordinated American wartime agencies there. In 1943 he was sent to Cairo as Ambassador so that he could assist the governments in exile of Greece and Yugoslavia. He returned to Athens as Ambassador in 1944. MacVeagh gave secret testimony before Congress concerning the Balkans in 1947, testimony that was an important factor in the formation of the Truman Doctrine. In 1948 as Ambassador to Portugal MacVeagh was influential in admitting her into NATO. In 1952 President Truman named him Ambassador to Spain. President Truman wrote to him on March 9, 1948: "On the occasion of your appointment as Ambassador to Portugal, I would like to make some personal expression of appreciation for the high services you have already rendered your country. During the past fifteen critical years you have served with distinction as Chief of the United states Missions to Iceland, the Union of South Africa, Yugoslavia and Greece. In this last post especially - as Minister from 1933 to 1941 and as Ambassador since 1943 - your scholarly statesmanship and diplomatic judgment have been of the utmost value.". Seller Inventory # 98746

Bibliographic Details

Title: CHARACTERS AND COMMENTARIES. [Publisher's ...

Publisher: London: Chatto & Windus, 1933.

Publication Date: 1933

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very good

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition