Hardcover. San Francisco, Encounter Books, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 222 pages. Clean, unmarked copy. Black and white pictures in center. Goodyear was an entrepreneur who actually made good on the ever-popular claim that his company would change the world. Korman, senior editor of Engineering News-Record, dryly traces the life of the rubber pioneer and American industrial legend in this part scientific history lesson and part American business story. Goodyear (1800-1860) became an inventor not out of any great scientific thirst; he was self-taught and wanted to make money. He earned success, but endured continual patent monopoly battles and numerous trips to debtors' prison as he steadfastly and compulsively held onto his dream of using rubber to change just about every aspect of life. (According to Korman, Goodyear frequently wore a coat made of rubber in his early inventing days to underscore the versatility of his product.) Korman waxes scientific at times, offering in-depth descriptions of how Goodyear cooked rubber and sulfur compounds, yet his technical discourses are not so esoteric that they will turn away amateurs. His book is also valuable for its accurate portrayal of factory life in the 1830s and '40s; his accounts of the aproned men who chopped rubber with axes and knives and the machines that ground it are lively examples of industrial age America. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Liveright, 1st, 2023, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. Years before Charles Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris electrified the nation, a group of daredevil pilots, most of them veterans of the World War I, brought aviation to the masses by competing in the sensational transcontinental air race of 1919. The contest awakened Americans to the practical possibilities of flight, yet despite its significance, it has until now been all but forgotten. In The Great Air Race, journalist and amateur pilot John Lancaster finally reclaims this landmark event and the unheralded aviators who competed to be the fastest man in America. His thrilling chronicle opens with the race's impresario, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell, who believed the nation's future was in the skies. Mitchell's contest--critics called it a stunt--was a risky undertaking, given that the DH-4s and Fokkers the contestants flew were almost comically ill-suited for long-distance travel: engines caught fire in flight; crude flight instruments were of little help in clouds and fog; and the brake-less planes were prone to nosing over on landing. The race was a test of endurance that many pilots didn't finish: some dropped out from sheer exhaustion, while others, betrayed by their engines or their instincts, perished. For all its tragedy, Lancaster argues, the race galvanized the nation to embrace the technology of flight. A thrilling tale of men and their machines, The Great Air Race offers a new origin point for commercial aviation in the United States. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1st, 1928, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, tan cloth with dark blue lettering, 293 pages. Early book on Adolph Zuckor & the pioneer days of the motion picture industry. 15 photos. Zukor was a Hungarian-American who produced one of the first feature-length films (The Prisoner of Zenda, 1913) and was one of the three founders of Paramount Studios. The book covers his rise from nickelodeon arcades to the heights of Hollywood. No dust jacket. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Viking, 1st, 1994, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 521 pages, b&w photos. A biography of the Russian Jewish emigrant who introduced American audiences to ballet and brought live music, dance, and theater to small towns discusses his work in Moscow and his work with Isadora Duncan, Marian Anderson, Nureyev, and other greats. Remainder line to bottom edge otherwise clean.
Softcover. Blue Mountain Lake NY, Adirondack Museum, 2nd pr., 1976, Softcover, 28 pages, b&w illustrations. A history of a mining enterprise started in 1826 in the Adirondack Mountains that went from business failure to success in the 1940s. Light tanning to covers, otherwise clean.
Hardcover. Hoboken NJ, John Wiley, 1st, 2002, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 367 pages, with illustrations. Like Morgan, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Marshall Field was one of the overlords of capitalism in the Gilded Age of the late 19th C. His wealth and philanthropy masked a disastrous personal life. Alienated from his children, deserted by his wife, he left a legacy of immense wealth and misery. This multigenerational saga of money, madness, and mystery tells a Jekyll-and-Hyde story of American capitalism--a tale of drive and nerve and moral stumbles. Clean copy.
Softcover. NY, National Railway Publication Company, 1939, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, original printed paper wrappers, 1536 pages. Thick handbook for the railroad steamboat trade, with detailed schedules, maps, advertisements, all pertaining to the shipment of goods. Printed on thin, cheap stock that's tanning. Still very good wth clear tape reinforcement to spine.
Hardcover. NY, Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1st, 1983, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 590 pages. Investigative reporting exposes the oil companies' complete control over the supplies and shortages during the 1970s. Clean copy.
Softcover. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1st pbk., 1980, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 283 pages. George Grayson examines the influence of oil and the oil sector both within Mexican society and in its relations with other nations, as he traces the development of the oil industry from its beginnings in 1901 up until the 1980s. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Fort Worth,TX, P&T Publishing Co., 1st, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, History and Development of Printing Presses from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-First Century. Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 297 pages plus index and glossary. B&w illustrations. Previous owner's name and date on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.
Hardcover. NY, Farrar Straus Giroux, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 347 pages. In this first biography focusing on John Hammond, the charismatic American music producer is brought to life by journalist Dunston Prial. Hammond was renowned for his ability to spot new talent, introducing the world to some of most gifted musicians of early jazz- Billie Holiday, Count Basie, and Charlie Christian. Then, as jazz gave way to pop and rock, Hammond staged an amazing second act discovering Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. 'The Producer' covers Hammond's entire story from his heyday as a music producer to his privileged upbringing as a Vanderbilt. This is a story of an American music in all its rough-edged vitality. Clean copy.
Softcover. NY, Harper Torchbooks, reprint, 1966, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 302 pages. This book presents the historical setting of the industrial revolution in a form suitable for the general reader. It seeks to explain why 18th-century England was the theatre of the great series of mechanical inventions that caused the revolution, and what were the great social changes that preceded, accompanied and followed it. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Cambridge MA, Harvard University Press, 1st, 1996, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 335 pages. In a society where trust is in short supply and democracy weak, the Mafia sells protection, a guarantee of safe conduct for parties to commercial transactions. Drawing on the confessions of eight Mafiosi, Diego Gambetta develops an elegant analysis of the economic and political role of the Sicilian Mafia. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Abrams, 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Two large hardcovers in a slipcase, 512 pages. The Story of Marvel Studios is the first-ever, fully authorized, all-access history of Marvel Studios' creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as told by the producers, writers, directors, concept artists, VFX artists, cast, and crew who brought it to life. Year-by-year, project-by-project, the studio's founding and meteoric growth are described through detailed personal stories, anecdotes, and remembrances of noteworthy challenges, breakthrough milestones, and history-making successes. Featuring archival materials, concept art, film stills, memorabilia from cast and crew, and rare promotional art, these volumes will take fans on a journey through Marvel Studios' creative challenges, breakthroughs, and successes of the past decade. These visuals are joined by exclusive interviews with key producers, studio heads, and core cast members such as Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, and more. Clean, bright set.
Hardcover. NY, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 1978, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 414 pages, b&w illustrations. Explores the history of the Teamsters up through the 1970's by looking at the subject from the perspective of a number of the key players -- one at a time. A novel yet very effective approach to a large and complicated subject. The book proves to be both informative and entertaining. Remainder stamp to bottom edge, otherwise clean.
Softcover. NY, Picador, 1st pbk, 2018, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 436 pages, color and b&w photos. It's 1983. A young Englishwoman arrives in Manhattan on a mission. Summoned in the hope that she can save Conde Nast's troubled new flagship Vanity Fair, Tina Brown is plunged into the maelstrom of competitive New York media. She survives the politics and the intrigue by a simple stratagem: succeeding. Here are the inside stories of the scoops and covers that sold millions: the Reagan kiss, the meltdown of Princess Diana's marriage to Prince Charles, the sensational Annie Leibovitz cover of a gloriously pregnant, naked Demi Moore. Written with dash and verve, the diary is also a sharply observed account of New York and London society. In its cinematic pages the drama, comedy and struggle of raising a family and running an 'it' magazine come to life. The irreverent diaries of Tina Brown's eight spectacular years as editor in chief of Vanity Fair. Clean, bright copy.
Hardcover. NY, Doubleday Page & Co., 1st, 1924, Book: Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, black cloth, title on spine faded, 306 pages. Stated first edition. Signs of former library book but clean internally. Previous owner's name on front fly leaf.
Hardcover. Seattle, University of Washington Press , 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 229 pages, illustrated in color and b&w. At first glance it may appear that this volume is one more in a line of celebratory tributes to the power of the industry, full of the colorful advertisements and optimistic tributes to the railroad as the builder of civilization across a majestic landscape. Nearly every page contains an illustration that invites quick perusal. But the text skillfully interprets the images and balances the story that railroads originally told about the region, one that boosted their properties and promoted settlement and travels along their lines . . . . The authors have effectively distilled a large body of historiography into one readable and engaging volume. Clean.
Hardcover. Indianapolis/ New York, Bobbs-Merrill, reprint, 1965, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a worn dust jacket, 464 pages, b&w illustrations. First published in 1940, a fascinating look at the oil industry as it was pre-World War 2. "Here is the romantic story of a unique and all-important industry, told with the informality and charm of an evening's chat by an open fire. So significant to our life has oil become that wars have been fought for it, and wars may be lost for want of it". Small sticker to front fly leaf, otherwise clean.
Hardcover. NY, Thomas Crowell, 1st, 1926, Book: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 95 pages. B&w photo illustrations. A short biography of the book publisher. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Utica NY, North Country Books , 1st, 1997, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 291 pages, b&w illustrations. Clean, unmarked copy with only minor wear to dust jacket.