Kaufman, Louis; Fitzgerald, Barbara; Sewell, Tom

MOE BERG: ATHLETE, SCHOLAR, SPY [Inscribed to Anita Loos]

Boston, Massachusetts; Toronto, Canada: Little, Brown and Company, 1975. First Edition. Octavo, 274 pages. In Very Good minus condition with Very Good minus condition dust jacket. Spine is black with white and red lettering. Dust jacket protected by mylar covering, price uncut: "$7.95" on front flap, has mild shelving wear along extremities, chipping to fore corners and along spine head. Boards have mild shelving wear along extremities; spine mildly cocked. Textblock edges have mild age-toning and light soiling, fore edge has mild brown staining pp.0-105; interior has mild brown staining along half-title page verso, light smudging along title page, and moderate age-toning pp.18-19 from a laid-in insert (now removed). Inscribed "To Anita Loos, Who was there in the very beginning when this book desperately needed help. Moe, I know, would be grateful too. With appreciation," and dated "January 24, 1975" by Louis Kaufman on half-title page. Signed flat by Tom Sewell on half-title page. CM Consignment. Shelved Room C overflow.

1405310

Special Collections - Upstairs

Price: $400

NOTES

Anita Loos (1888-1981) befriended the major league baseball player-turned World War II spy, Moe Berg in New York's intellectual social circles throughout the mid-20th century. Moe Berg (1902-1972), although famously reserved, considered the novelist one of his closest friends in the later stages of his life. A true intellectual, Berg remains as remembered for his impeccable wit as he is for his extraordinary career in baseball and his espionage work for the Office of Strategic Services. Loos, who was the first female Hollywood screenwriter, penned the timeless comedy classic GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, and cultivated a long career as an American cultural critic deeply valued Berg's friendship, in turn contributing to the publication of his biography. Beneath Kaufman and Sewell's signatures on the half-title page is a stamp that reads "From the Estate of Anita Loos."