Inaugural Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt President of the United States Delivered at the Capitol Washington, D. C. March 4, 1933
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1933. Self-wraps. Quarto. 9 pages.
This is the advance issue of the first edition of FDR’s first Inaugural Address, likely released the day before the inauguration in a very small number of copies and printed on large paper with a large, generously-spaced font. Halter believes these were printed for FDR as reading copies, but at the last minute he chose to read his speech from an emended typescript. He further deviated somewhat from that text as he was actually delivering the address, giving this advance issue textual significance on top of its edition priority, as all subsequent non-government printings incorporated FDR's on-the-fly changes.
FDR's first inaugural contains one of his most famous lines. As he took the reins as President for the first time, with the nation in the grip of the Great Depression, he said, "This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself..." Widely considered one of the greatest speeches in American history.
Ref. HALTER T544.
Good. Saddle-stapled paperback with printed front cover. Dampstaining along left side of front cover, which also appears faintly along inner margins inside. Rear cover has a 1/2" chip to lower fore corner.
Item #2055
Price: $1,500