[Rarebooks] FS: Margaret Bourke-White INSCRIBED to WWI Ace Eddie Rickenbacker: THEY CALLED IT "PURPLE HEART VALLEY": A COMBAT CHRONICLE OF THE WAR IN ITALY

[Charles Agvent]

BOURKE-WHITE, Margaret (RICKENBACKER, Eddie). THEY CALLED IT "PURPLE 
HEART VALLEY": A COMBAT CHRONICLE OF THE WAR IN ITALY. New York: Simon & 
Schuster, 1944. First Edition. Illustrated with photographs by 
Bourke-White. This copy INSCRIBED and SIGNED by the author to famous 
pilot Eddie Rickenbacker on a large piece of paper pasted to the front 
endpaper: "For my good friend/Eddie Rickenbacker/with all best/Margaret 
Bourke-White." Medal of Honor-winning World War I aviator Eddie 
Rickenbacker first gained fame in the formative years of auto racing as 
a driver. Before owning and operating the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 
he participated in some of the first 500-mile races held there finishing 
in tenth place in 1914. Rickenbacker flew a total of 300 combat hours, 
reportedly more than any other U.S. pilot in World War I, and his 26 
victories as a pilot constituted an American record that stood until 
World War II. After the war, he started an unsuccessful automobile 
company, but his most lasting business endeavor was his lifelong 
leadership of Eastern Air Lines which Rickenbacker transformed from a 
small airline to a major international transportation company. A gritty 
account by the first female journalist to be attached to the U.S. Army 
in World War II of her experiences with the Fifth Army during the 
Italian Campaign. Very Good, lacking the dustwrapper.

The only other copy of this title we have seen that was signed was also 
on a piece of paper pasted in. It is likely that Bourke-White was "in 
the field" upon publication and unable to sign the book itself. 
(#013929)        $1,000.00

http://home.ptd.net/~chagvent/013929.jpg

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