Fine Books and Manuscripts

Rand, Ayn We the Living. New York: Macmillan, 1936 8vo. Publisher's tan cloth, lettered in blue; spine toned, covers lightly scratched and soiled. Facsimile dust jacket. Quarter morocco slipcase. First edition, presentation copy inscribed by the author, "To DeWitt M. Emery— with great admiration— Ayn Rand 9-15-1941", with Emery's bookplate to pastedown. The debut novel from the Russian-American novelist, the work takes place in post-revolutionary Russia some 14 years prior to the publication date and staunchly challenges communism. It is loosely based on Rand's personal experiences following the 1917 Russian Revolution—Rand and her family's property had been seized by the Bolsheviks. It was an enormously controversial subject for a novel, and the work was rejected by several publishers until Macmillan issued the present first edition in April 1936. It did not sell well and Macmillan destroyed the plates even before the first printing sold out. It was not until the 1950s, specifically when Atlas Shrugged achieved considerable commercial success, that a new edition was prepared. DeWitt M. Emery was one of Rand's frequent correspondents and recipient of her latest books and other publications. Their shared political cause bound them as they campaigned against "the Reds". Following the presentation of this book in August 1941, Rand wrote a fervent letter to Emery about a political pamphlet they were writing together. In 1943, Rand sent Emery a copy of The Fountainhead, and asked Emery for "an intelligent Tory to back the book" as well as praising Lorine Pruette’s review of the book in the Sunday Times. PROVENANCE: Dewitt M. Emery (presentation copy and bookplate)

View 1 of Lot 1086: Rand, Ayn | We the Living, a rare presentation copy of the author's debut novel

rand, ayn | we the living, a rare presentation copy of the author's debut novel

Fine Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana. Part 2

Rand, Ayn Ayn Rand's first lecture at the Ford Hall Forum: autograph manuscript of "The Intellectual Bankruptcy of Our Age" (New York, 7 March 1961) Autograph manuscript, 53 leaves (280 x 217 mm), written in blue ballpoint pen with extensive emendations in blue and red ink and red pencil throughout; light discoloration at left margin of first page, otherwise in fine condition. The complete working manuscript of Rand’s first lecture at Ford Hall Forum—marking the beginning of a two-decade speaking tradition and signaling her emergence as a public intellectual. Delivered on 26 March 1961 at Boston’s Ford Hall Forum, Rand’s lecture critiques what she saw as the erosion of ideological clarity in American politics. “I am addressing an audience consisting predominately of my enemies,” she begins, “that is, of so-called "liberals".” The text comments on the convergence of liberal and conservative parties, concluding that “the intellectuals … are now homeless refugees, left behind by a silent collapse they have not had the courage to identify.” She explains that in the 1930s she envied "liberals" for their intellectual approach to political problems. "By 1956, I had no cause to envy the "liberals" any longer. For many decades, the "liberals" had been representatives of the intellect in America... while the so called "conservatives," allegedly devoted to the defense of individualism and capitalism, went about apologetically projecting such a cracker-barrel sort of folksiness that Li'l Abner would have found embarrassing, the monument to which may still be seen in the corridors of the New York Stock Exchange, in a costly display of statistical charts and models proudly entitled: The People's Capitalism." Rand links this collapse to the nineteenth-century failure of intellectuals to embrace capitalism, which she claims led to the “shameful, sordid, ugly history of the intellectual development of the last hundred and fifty years.” She sharply criticizes the absence of principle in contemporary political discourse, using the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates as an example: “Did the candidates discuss foreign policy? No—just the fate of Quemoy and Matsu. Did they discuss socialized medicine? No—just the cost and the procedure of medical aid to the aged. Did they discuss government control of education? No—just who should pay the teachers' salaries: the federal government or the states.” The manuscript offers a window into Rand’s writing process: whole paragraphs are rewritten, lines struck through, and marginalia added in tight script and angled insertions. This reflects efforts to sharpen her call to arms, culminating in a rallying cry at the bottom of the final page: “a new type of intellectual, a new radical: the fighter for capitalism.” The text differs significantly from the version later published in The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought (1989). Rand went on to deliver eighteen more lectures at Ford Hall Forum over the next twenty years. Complete manuscripts of her public addresses are rare at auction. PROVENANCE: Sold at a benefit auction for the Ford Hall Forum’s 75th Birthday Gala, 1983 — Sotheby’s New York, 10 June 2010, lot 69 ($68,500)

View 1 of Lot 1048: Rand, Ayn | A complete draft of Rand's important first speech delivered at the Ford Hall Forum

rand, ayn | a complete draft of rand's important first speech delivered at the ford hall forum

Fine Books & Manuscripts Online

RAND, AYN Ayn Rand's important first speech delivered at the Ford Hall Forum Autograph manuscript of "The Intellectual Bankruptcy of Our Age," 52 pp. (11 x 8½ in.; 280 x 217 mm), with extensive emendations in blue ballpoint, red ballpoint, and red pencil, dated 7 March 1961 by Rand on the first page; light discoloration at left margin of first page, otherwise in fine condition. "I am addressing an audience consisting predominately of my enemies — That is of so-called liberals." Ayn Rand's influential lecture on the intellectual crisis plaguing America. Rand's lecture was delivered to a packed room on 26 March 1961 at Ford Hall Forum, a famous stronghold of free speech on the Northeastern University campus in Boston. The lecture proved to be an extraordinary success. In fact Rand was so well received that she went on to give eighteen more lectures at Ford Hall Forum over the next twenty years. Rand begins her initial lecture by stating that in the 1930's she envied "liberals" for their intellectual approach to political problems. "Today, I have no cause to envy 'liberals' any longer. For many decades, the 'liberals' had been representatives on the intellect in America … while the so-called 'conservatives' allegedly devoted to the defense of individualism and capitalism, went about apologetically projecting such a cracker-barrel sort of folksiness that Li'l Abner would have found embarrassing; the monument to which may still be seen in the corridors of the New York Stock Exchange, in a costly display of statistical charts and models proudly entitled: 'THE PEOPLE'S CAPITALISM." This brings Rand to observe that liberals and conservatives are merging and the Republican and Democratic parties are becoming indistinguishable. "What social or political group today is the home of those who are and still wish to be the men of intellect?" She answers herself, "None. The intellectuals … are now homeless refugees, left behind by a silent collapse they have not had the courage to identify." Rand identifies it: intellectuals of the nineteenth century failed to embrace capitalism. "The rest is history — the shameful, sordid, ugly history of the intellectual development of the last hundred and fifty years." Rand goes on to deliver a sharp commentary on the intellectual disintegration of today's political dialogue, "the shrinking of issues and debates to the level of single isolated superficial concretes, with no context, with no reference to any fundamental principles, no mention of basic issues, no proofs, no arguments, nothing but arbitrary assertions 'for' or 'against'." For an example, she draws on the Kennedy-Nixon debates of the previous year: "… observe the level on which the last presidential campaign was fought. Did the candidates discuss foreign policy? No — just the fate of Quernoy and Matsu [two islands between China and Taiwan]. Did they discuss socialized medicine? No — just the cost and the procedure of medical aid to the aged. Did they discuss government control of education? No — just who should pay the teachers' salaries: the federal government or the states." The manuscript is dated 7 March 1961 on the first page. The 52 pages of text are filled with hundreds of Rand's own additions, deletions, and corrections. The markings in red pencil and red ink appear to be those of an editor as the lecture was readied for publication. The original manuscript differs significantly from the published version in Rand's The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought (1989). Complete manuscripts by Ayn Rand are rare at auction. PROVENANCE: Sold at a benefit auction for the Ford Hall Forum's 75th Birthday Gala, 1983 — sold Sotheby's New York, 10 June 2010, lot 69

rand, ayn | ayn rand's important first speech delivered at the ford hall forum

Books and Manuscripts from the Collection of Jay I. Kislak. Sold to Benefit the Kislak Family Foundation. 

Rand, Ayn The Fountainhead. Indianapolis & New York: The Bobbs-Merill Company, 1964 8vo (210 x 135 mm). Inscribed on the front free endpaper; gift inscription on the verso of the front free endpaper. Publisher's green cloth over green boards stamped black; boards browned and lightly bumped at edges, some fraying at tail of spine, stains to bottom edge. In the original printed dustjacket with photographic portrait of Rand on the rear panel; jacket with some toning and soiling, abrasions in a few places, chips at head and foot, short closed tears. Inscribed by the author, reading "To Lynne Gould — — Cordially — Ayn Rand 6/8/65". A thirtieth printing of Rand's influential novel, which provided the fictional introduction to her Objectivist ethics in the character of Howard Roark, through which she sought to demonstrate that "man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress." PROVENANCE: Lynne Gould (presentation inscription)

View 1 of Lot 71: Rand, Ayn | An inscribed copy of her influential novel

rand, ayn | an inscribed copy of her influential novel

Rand, Ayn Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House, 1957 8vo. Publisher's green cloth blocked in black and gilt, tan endpapers; covers lightly discolored along top edge, rear hinge cracked, somewhat cocked. Original first state pictorial dust-jacket, priced $6.95, with 10/57 on front flap, top edge stained blue; a few small chips, lightly rubbed. First edition, first printing; the author's self-considered magnum opus. Rand's dystopian tale explores business, industry and productiveness and plays with the concept of what would happen if the world's "prime movers" were to cease working. When developing the character of Robert Stadler, Rand took inspiration from interviews with Robert Oppenheimer. Rand recalled a telephone conversation where the idea for the work arose: "What if I went on strike? What if all the creative minds of the world went on strike? … That would make a good novel."

View 1 of Lot 1088: Rand, Ayn | The author's magnum opus

rand, ayn | the author's magnum opus

Rand, Ayn The Fountainhead. Indianapolis and New York: Bobbs-Merrill, [1943] 8vo. Publisher's gilt-stamped red cloth, top edges stained red; a bit shaken, endpapers and lower covers lightly soiled. Later dustjacket with photograph of Rand and three reviews to rear panel, unclipped; faint residue from an early protector, spine a touch faded, lightly soiled along lower edges, a few short tears and small chips. Housed in a maroon morocco-backed slipcase with folding cloth chemise. First edition, an important association copy, inscribed to her philosophical soul mate, Nathaniel Branden on the front free endpaper: "To Nathan – who has earned and paid back all the values he found in this book – Paid in full – Ayn Rand. December 17, 1954" Nathaniel Branden and Ayn Rand first struck up a correspondence in the 1940s after Branden wrote to her to tell her how much he admired The Fountainhead. Though the young psychology student was 25 years her junior, they formed an intense intellectual, philosophical, and sometimes romantic bond, which would greatly influence the trajectory of Objectivism. Their partnership was closest from 1954 — the year they began their love affair, and the the date of the present inscription — through the publication of Atlas Shrugged in 1957. Rand's blockbuster novel bears a telling joint dedication: to her husband Frank O'Connor, and to Nathaniel Branden. Following the publication of Atlas Shrugged, Branden established the Nathaniel Branden Institute, which promoted Rand's philosophy of Objectivism with lectures, recordings, books, and articles. This mutually beneficial collaboration lasted until 1968, when Rand accused Branden of taking advantage of their financial arrangement in an article published in The Objectivist. This public and acrimonious dissolution caused a rift amongst followers of Objectivism, some of whom chose to follow Branden as he branched off to develop a new philosophy that shifted from self-interest to self-esteem. A superb association copy, inscribed to one of Rand's most important intellectual partners, and one of the major proponents of Objectivism PROVENANCE: Nathaniel Branden (presentation inscription) — Christie's East, 22 May 2000, lot 181

View 1 of Lot 1087: Rand, Ayn | The Fountainhead, Inscribed to her philosophical soul mate, Nathaniel Branden

rand, ayn | the fountainhead, inscribed to her philosophical soul mate, nathaniel branden

We the Living.  New York: The MacMillan Company, 1936

We the Living.  New York: The MacMillan Company, 1936 In 8s (7 3/4  x 5 1/4  in.; 197 x 134 mm, uncut).  Publisher's tan cloth, spine and upper cover lettered in blue; light browning throughout, spine darkened.  Original red and blue printed dust jacket; tears repaired from verso with tape, worn. [With:]  Pen and ink drawing by F. Murray, n.p., n.d.; severe marginal chipping, several tears.  A cartoon depicting Mickey Mouse, Marian Nixon, and Ivan Lebedeff ;2 black-and-white photographs of Lebedeff in formal attire and military regalia, n.p., n.d. [probably Hollywood, California, 1926–35]; marginal tears. 

rand, ayn

Fine Books & Manuscripts

Autograph manuscript of "The Intellectual Bankruptcy of Our Age," 52 pp. (11 x 8 1/2 in.; 280 x 217 mm), with extensive emendations in blue ballpoint, red ballpoint, and red pencil, dated 7 March 1961 by Rand on the first page; light discoloration at left margin of first page, otherwise in fine condition.

ayn rand's important first speech delivered at the ford hall forum

Books & Manuscripts

Autograph manuscript being Rand's first speech delivered at Ford Hall Forum in Boston on 26 March 1961, entitled, "The Intellectual Bankruptcy of Our Age," 52 pages, (11 x 81/2 in.; 280 x 217 mm), with extensive emendations in blue ball point, red ball point, and red pencil; light discoloration at left margin of first page, otherwise in fine condition.

8vo (167 x 132mm.), limited to 15,000 copies, illustrations, original wrappers with photomontage design, small repair to backstrip and upper cover

gollivud: amerikanskii kino-gorod [hollywood: the american city of movies]. moscow & leningrad: kinopechat', 1926

Books &amp; Manuscripts

The Fountainhead.  Indianapolis and New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943.

The Fountainhead.  Indianapolis and New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1943.8vo (8 1 /2 x 6 ins; 215 x 150 mm). Publisher's first issue binding of gilt-stamped red cloth in original first issue dust-jacket without reviews or author's photo; gilt titles bright, cloth fresh witht corners unbumped, dust- jacket unclipped, but  with usual even fading to jacket spine panel, a few tiny chips from head and some light creasing at foot of jacket spine.

The Library of an English Bibliophile, Part II

8vo (227 x 145mm.), first edition, first printing, publisher's vivid green cloth, spine stamped in gilt and black, author's monogram in gilt on front cover, original dust jacket with cover illustration by George Salter, author photograph, date "10/57" at lower margin of front flap, publisher's name in full on lower portion of back flap, half green morocco gilt slipcase, matching chemise, minimal rubbing to spine, minimal wear at edges of dust-jacket

atlas shrugged. new york: random house, 1957

N08811

Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House, 1957

Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House, 1957 8vo (215 x 145 mm). Publisher's green cloth in illustrated dust-jacket (with 10/57 on front flap and full publisher's address on rear, priced $7.95); spine slightly faded with a bit of rubbing to gilt title, jacket front panel edges rubbed, some chipping and loss to spine ends of jacket, minor rubbing to fold ends.

Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House, 1957 [but 1967]

Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House, 1957 [but 1967] 8vo (8 x 6 ins; 227 x 145 mm). Publisher's gilt-titled blue cloth, top edge stained blue in gray card slipcase as as issued; darker blue title panel on spine rubbed, front hinge tender. Quarter gilt blue morocco and marbled boards folding case.

Fine Books and Manuscripts Including Americana

Cigarette box (92 x 78 mm), containing 3 unfiltered cigarettes, each stamped in gold with a dollar sign. Box with cream paper wrap-around label printed in gold with "Who is John Galt? They know at Random House", and with 1 blue 10¢ federal cigarette tax stamp, 1 - ½¢ tax stamp for New York City,  1-1½¢ tax stamp for New York State, inside of box with cream colored label "Random House Inc., 457 Madison Avenue, New York 22" printed in gold with light wear and some faint stains. 

pack of galt's gulch cigarettes. 

8vo (8 1/4 x 5 3/4 in.; 210 x 145 mm). Publisher's green cloth stamped in gilt. Original dust jacket; lightly soiled with minor losses at corners and top of spine panel, rubbing along folds, and usual fading to spine. Unclipped with photograph of Rand and three reviews to rear panel. In a quarter morocco case. 

the fountainhead. indianapolis and new york: bobbs-merrill, [1943]

8vo. (202 x 135 mm). Maroon publisher's calf, gilt. Spine & corners rubbed, damp-stain touching lower edges and end-papers. 

anthem. los angeles, ca.: pamphleteers, inc., 1946

8vo (215 x 145 mm). Half title partially detached. Publisher's green cloth; spine lightly sunned, some light wear to spine label, foot of spine rubbed with minor loss to cloth, small hole in cloth at spine. 

rand, ayn. atlas shrugged. new york: random house, 1957, 8vo, first edition (``first...

frank lloyd wright (american, 1867-1959) study for the ayn rand cottage/studio, 1947

[rand, ayn]

the fountainhead. indianapolis and new york: bobbs-merrill, (1943)

Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House, 1957 8vo (8 1/2 x 5 3/4 in.; 216 x 147 mm). Publisher's green cloth, first issue dust jacket (with 10/57 on front flap and publisher's name in full on lower flap; corners of jacket slightly rubbed, head of spine slightly torn, 2 or 3 nicks to backstrip.

Anthem. Cassell, 1938, first edition, original mottled red cloth, dust-jacket, jacket lightly discoloured,  [SF1/180]; Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House, 1957, first edition, original green cloth gilt, dust-jacket, [SF2/93], jacket torn and chipped with loss at head and foot of spine, 8vo (2)

Results for "Ayn Rand"