Carnegie, Andrew

The Empire of Business [QUITE SCARCE TO RARE FIRST EDITION]

New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1902. First Edition. Hardcover. "IT WILL BE A GREAT MISTAKE…TO SHOOT THE MILLIONAIRES FOR THEY ARE THE BEES THAT MAKE THE MOST HONEY." A Very Good + copy of the first edition, first printing, in the Publisher's original maroon cloth (no jacket was issued), WITH THE TITLE ON THE TITLE PAGE BEING LETTERED IN RED AND WITH THE TITLE PAGE EMBLEM IN RED AND SURROUNDED BY AN EMBOSSMENT IN BLANK PARALLEL TO THE EMBLEM. [NOTE ON PRIORITY: Both this edition and the edition which names itself as the "SUCCESS EDITION" were published in April, 1902. Due to the foregoing features of the printing described above and the lack of such features in the "SUCCESS EDITION", as well as the tendency of publishers to reduce special features in later printings and editions to save costs, we surmise that this edition was printed first and the "SUCCESS EDITION" later that month.] The volume shows light to modest rubbing to the spine ends and leading board corners and some slight lightening to the spine and to a small portion of the front board's upper left. The cloth is otherwise rich in color, and the closed page block's upper edge is in gilt. Within, a prior owner's bookplate graces the front pastedown, and there are light pencil notations on the upper right corner of both the front free endpaper's recto and the rear pastedown. The title page faces the tissue-guarded frontis of Carnegie's image and the title page itself is partially lettered and decorated in red and is otherwise lettered in red. The hinges are solid and uncracked and the leaves are remarkably bright and clean. A Business Classic, the volume contains seventeen (17) Essays by the great Industrial Titan whose work and charity greatly affected America's business and culture. Each Essay has its own half-title. Andrew Carnegie, along with the Rockefellers, Fricks, Morgans, Goulds, and Mellons presided over America's Gilded Age and, between the Civil War and the early 20th Century, and drove the forces that upended the old Jeffersonian world. Quite notably, Carnegie differed from his fellows as he, to the benefit of many, maintained that all the new wealth was "...not chiefly the product of the individual… but largely the joint product of the community, and that therefore, while ambitious men might naturally pursue great fortunes, those riches should be returned in one's lifetime to do public good." 'Whether the millionaire wishes it or not, he cannot evade the law which under present conditions compels him to use his wealth for the good of the people." This being the case, Carnegie also maintained that (as quoted in the New York Times: "It will be a great mistake for the community to shoot the millionaires for they are the bees that make the most honey." Carnegie lived by this principle and he not only funded libraries (for which he is famous, he also paid for thousands of church organs, but also used his funds to help establish numerous colleges, schools, and other nonprofit organizations and associations in other nations as well. While Carnegie rose to great fame and wealth, it is notable that he was born not in American but in Scotland. His parents, Will and Margaret Carnegie, sold their belongings in Scotland to come to America when he was 13-years-old. They took up their life in a Pittsburgh suburb and lived in a pair of rooms above a weaving shop that as run by their relatives. They eventually took over eventually took over the business but failed to succeed. Consequently, Andrew Carnegie began working as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill, laboring long hours and earning $1.20 per week. From these modest beginnings he worked his way to becoming one of the richest men in the world's history, then using his wealth to benefit others. This copy is QUITE SCARCE altogether and is EASILY THE NICEST COPY WE EVER HAVE SEEN. Very good + / [No Dust Jacket Issued]. Item #3706

Price: $1,200.00