Mosley, Sir Oswald

8vo (229 x 151mm.), first edition, presentation copy inscribed by the author ("To | His Royal Highness | The Duke of Windsor | With his respects and best new year wishes | from the Author | Tom | January 1969") on the verso of the half-title, original maroon cloth, dust-jacket, collector's blue cloth chemise and quarter blue morocco slipcase, jacket slightly chipped along edges

The Duke & Duchess of Windsor (their sale, Sotheby's New York, 18 September 1997, lot 3115 [part of]; with sale bookplate)

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

An historically resonant association copy, linking the one-time Edward VIII with the notorious politician and former leader of the British Union of Fascists Oswald ("Tom") Mosley, both of whom were strongly sympathetic, in its earlier incarnations at least, to the National Socialist movement in Germany in the 1930s, and who both favoured appeasement rather than confrontation with Hitler. In Mosley's case Hitler was present at the wedding reception after his marriage to Diana Mitford in Berlin in 1936; in the Duke's he visited Germany in 1937 with the Duchess and met and saluted Hitler; later in the war he appears to have continued to favour a negotiated settlement, and it has been suggested by some that he saw himself as an alternative monarch should Britain lose the war.

This copy of Mosley's autobiography was published more than thirty years after the key events which defined both his and the Duke's lives. It is perhaps significant that Mosley made the effort to personally inscribe a copy to the Duke, and that the Duke retained it in his library in his final years in the residential suite he shared with the Duchess in Paris.