ASTIR: A Publisher’s Life-Story

By John Adams Thayer

Small, Maynard & Company, Boston, 1910

Offered here is a remarkable author-signed association copy with strong provenance and an apparent direct connection between the recipient and the narrative of the book itself.

This copy is inscribed and signed by author John Adams Thayer to Robert Frothingham in March 1932. The inscription is written on the publisher’s presentation leaf that was inserted into copies from the author’s rediscovered stock of first editions. In the inscription, Thayer refers to Frothingham as a “co-worker of Samsonian strength” and directs him to page 280.

The reference is particularly significant because page 280 contains Thayer’s discussion of the “wonderfully efficient man” who assumed responsibility for the advertising department of Everybody’s Magazine. Historical sources identify Robert Frothingham as Advertising Manager of Everybody’s Magazine during this period, suggesting that the inscription may identify Frothingham as one of the individuals chronicled in the memoir.

Unlike more commonly encountered signed copies from the author’s rediscovered stock, this example appears to be an association copy connecting the author, the recipient, and events described within the text itself.

A printed notice states that all editions of the book had gone out of print and that one thousand copies of the first edition, reserved by the author in 1910, were rediscovered after nearly two decades in storage. The March 1932 inscription corresponds with the period when these copies were being distributed.

Provenance: From the personal library of Robert Frothingham. Acquired from a collection originating from Frothingham’s former residence on Great Sacandaga Lake in New York and retained by a subsequent owner for many years before entering the market.

Condition:

Please review all photographs carefully. The book shows age-related wear consistent with age and use. There is faint moisture staining/waviness to portions of the lower page margins. Binding remains intact and the signed inscription is clear and legible.

An uncommon and highly desirable association copy with a documented connection to early twentieth-century American publishing history.