Description:

JFK Early Signed 1st Ed. of His Favorite Book "Pilgrim's Way", Courted Jackie With it, Bonus JPK Owned Book

John F. Kennedy's signed copy of John Buchan's "Pilgrim's Way" - one of his favorite books. Cambridge: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1940. First edition. Large twelvemo, vi, 336pp including an index. Signed "John F. Kennedy" on the front free end page. Publisher's grey cloth binding with maroon titling on the front and at the spine. Lacking a dustjacket. With light wear and rubbing to the corners and spine edges. Soiling and toning to the covers, most evident at the spine. Toned internal pages but soundly bound. Boldly signed. Together with Joseph P. Kennedy's copy of Jonathan Stigge's "Turn of the Table." New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., 1940. Published for the Crime Club. Octavo, 278pp. J.P. Kennedy's name has been penciled onto the top margin of the front free end page by an unknown hand. Publisher's orange cloth binding with black titling and decoration at the spine. Lacking a dustjacket. Slightly cocked binding. Light rubbing to the corners and spine edges. Some spotting and sunning to the covers. Light toning to the internal pages with scattered foxing and soiling. Provenance: John F. Kennedy to Nancy Tenney Lloyd (later Nancy Tenney Coleman); by descent in the family.

John F. Kennedy was a voracious reader – mostly history, including Winston Churchill’s books. However, one of the books Kennedy cited most often was John Buchan’s memoir “Pilgrim’s Way,” published posthumously in 1940. Buchan had served in the Boer War and World War I, and “Pilgrim’s Way” was meant to be an elegy for the many friends and promising young men whose lives had been cut short during the Great War. Kennedy would later list "Pilgrim's Way" among his favorite books in a 1961 issue of Life Magazine. He often quoted passages from it to friends and associates and even gave a copy to Jackie while courting her as a means of explaining his character to her. The book had a deep effect on Kennedy, who had a deep fixation on death and his own mortality. His favorite poem was "I Have a Rendezvous with Death" by Alan Seeger, and he would go on to experience great personal loss through the death of his older brother, his sister, and two of his own children.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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