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Stated Second Printing. I purchased this book directly from the library of the former Assistant Secretary War and US High Commissioner to Postwar Germany, John J. McCloy. The signed inscription does not reference his name and I'm having trouble recognizing two words or names in the inscription (see photo). So the inscription reads: 'To recall. ______ Nov. 4. 1944, _______ Nov 12. 1944, Halifax, Nov. 19.' Once listed, this will be the Only signed copy of any of the editions of this book, English and American, that are for sale on the Internet. Moreover, I was unable to find even one other book which bore the signature of Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, First Earl of Halifax. 'Lord Halifax held several senior ministerial posts, most notably those of Viceroy of India from 1926 to 1931, the leader of the House Of Lords from 1935 to 1938, and Foreign Secretary between 1938 and 1940. He was one of the architects of the policy of appeasement of Adolf Hitler in 1936-1938, working closely with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. However, after Kristallnacht (on 9-10 November 1938) and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 he was one of those who pushed for a new policy of attempting to deter further German aggression by promising to go to war to defend Poland. On Chamberlain's resignation early in May 1940, Halifax effectively declined the position of Prime Minister as he felt that Winston Churchill would be a more suitable war leader.' From 1941 to 1946, he served as British Ambassador to The United States. I would assume he had some kind of personal relationship with McCloy, having gifted him the book and signing it simply 'Halifax'. The covers of the book are in decent condition. They are quite clean, just a few light spots. The gilt lettering on the spine is mostly gone. The wear at the spine ends isn't bad, a little crinkling, a speck-sized tear at the bottom one. There is a bump/crease at the front bottom corner which surprisingly has not impacted any of the bottom corners of the pages. A smaller bump/crease at the rear bottom corner created a very light and tiny crease on some later pages. The book is square and the spine is straight. There is a crack or space between the verso of the second blank front end paper and the half-title page. Both pages are tightly bound from top to bottom. The front cover is also solidly bound (no crack or space at its juncture with the facing signed first front end paper), although if you pull at the front cover from the side you will feel a little bit of give. The same is the case with the rear cover where there is a crack or space between the fifth and sixth blank end papers. Both of these end papers are solidly bound, top to bottom, despite the crack being wider, though only coming half the way up the juncture. The bit of give with the rear cover is also very slight. The text pages are very solidly bound, no cracks or spaces between any of them. The pages are very clean. Scrolling through, I found one little tan spot at the margin of one page, one little spot over two letters in a word, and one tiny dark spot just off the outer edge of one page, far from the print. The inside covers and end papers are also very clean. There are no markings in the book. No attachments of any kind. And Lord Halifax's signed inscription is the only writing to be found anywhere. From the first lines of the Introduction: 'I am very glad that, through the enterprise of Mr. Didier, my father's Ghost Book has been allowed to cross the Atlantic; and I hope it will find here some readers who will share the thrills it used to give me.' Charles Lindley,Viscount Halifax passed away in 1939. The first edition of this book was published in England in 1936. From the title page: 'A Collection of Stories of Haunted Houses, Apparitions, and Supernatural Occurrences made by Charles Lindley, Viscount Halifax.'.
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