Description
First edition of Public Works: A Dangerous Trade by Robert Moses, inscribed to journalist and historian Theodore H. White.
Octavo, xxxvi, 952pp. Beige cloth, title stamped in blue and red. The first printing, with a full number line on the copyright page and no additional printings. Solid text block, light sunning along top edge, light dampstain to rear cover. In the publisher’s dust jacket, retail price on front flap, archival tissue repair to verso, a few closed tears, bright illustrations.
Signed by the author “To Ted White / with high regard / Robert Moses” on the second free endpaper.
Robert Moses (1888-1981) was an urban planner in New York City and served as the 49th Secretary of State of New York from 1927-1929. Throughout his forty-year career, Moses oversaw construction and function of Jones Beach State Park and the New York State Parkway System, and was acting head of the Triborough Bridge Authority. Despite his accomplishments in public affairs, Moses’s reputation was diminished with the publication of Robert Caro’s biography The Power Broker, which described Moses as a racist official who cut corners on budgeting and restricted access to city parks for lower-class families.
