THE PAGEANT OF AMERICA - Washington Edition (with 293 signatures)

New Haven: Yale University Press, 1925. First Thus. Hardcover. Very Good. The unnumbered but limited Washington Edition. 15 volumes, each quarto and bound in half leather and marbled boards. Profusely, but appropriately, illustrated with vintage b/w photos, maps, & facsimiles. Each volume contains a lovely color frontispiece. Decorative endpapers. The pagination in each volume varies, but run pps. 327 - pps. 370. The Pageant of America was published 1925 - 1929 in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Gabriel was the general editor & specific editor of some volumes. Various other scholars edited other individual volumes. The reach and depth of the researched material on multiple subjects and fields relating to the history, culture, and growth of the United States is astounding. This set is signed in volume 1 by the President and founder of Yale University Press, George Parmly Day. Let me now describe what is unique about this set being offered. It is accompanied by a cord-tied, leather bound (moderately worn), cloth-lined folder of legal size. The folder contains 17 legal-sized pages, each printed with black & red lettering, and with two blue shields unique to the Press. These pages, unlined, present the original signatures of approximately 293 (!) patrons. Each has written his or her name and, along with it, his or her year of graduation from Yale, and his or her current city of residence (some add a street address). Some signatures are naturally easy to read; others difficult. I attempted to do internet searches on many of them, but it was a lot of work and I decided to discontinue. Of the 2-3 dozen I did research, I came up with businessmen, industrialists, doctors, public officials, printers or publishers, and many more represented careers. Examples: Edward O. Goss, inventor of a "new Pneumatic-Tire Valve" for bicycles; Sanford H. Wadhams, Army Distinguished Service Medal WWI, Ass't to Chief Surgeon American Expeditionary Forces - General Staff; James P. Woodruff, founding family of Litchfield, & judge, Democratic leader of the House, etc.; (Mrs.) C. H. Alvord, Hendey Machine Co.; Clifford D. Cheney - Cheney family of silk manufacturers; Robert C. Vance - publication family; John M. Burrall - prominent cabinet maker and funeral director; Foster Rockwell - Yale football quarterback; Stuart W. Jackson - you can reference him with the Lafayette Collection in Yale. He wrote a biography of LaFayette. Perhaps most interesting to me was on page 13, the signature of the famous book collector, Edwin J. Beinecke, after whom, along with his brother, the Beinecke Library at Yale is named. No doubt the right buyer of this set will find somebody really important that I have overlooked. The set is in overall VG+ condition. Two volumes have wear to a short portion of a cover edge, exposing the board on either a fore edge or a bottom edge. In spite of the heft of each volume, only one hinge was broken & has it has been professionally repaired. Some volumes have moderate scuffing to the boards. Complete sets of this edition are scarce, but not rare or expensive. The obvious value of the set being offered here is the remarkable portfolio of autographs/signatures. I have contacted Yale for information about the Patrons/signatures and how they might have been acquired, but the appropriate departments have been unable, or unwilling, to assist. Most signatures are of men and women from the northeastern seaboard, especially New York and Connecticut, but some are from Chicago and the State of California. I might speculate that all these folks were back for a big reunion around 1925 and they really did help publish the work with their patronage, and/or purchased sets, but I have no evidence to support that idea. This is a wonderful set for the information alone, but a truly unique set with all the signatures.