A Visit to Mr. John D. Rockefeller by Neighbors and Friends at Forest Hill, Cleveland, Ohio. September Twenty-Sixth Nineteen Hundred and Five by [ROCKEFELLER, John D. - subejct] James Barnett, et al. - eds - 1905

(Cleveland): (Vinson and Korner, printers), 1905. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Small quarto, unpaginated. An exceedingly fine copy in the publisher's gilt-stamped boards with very fragile polished brown leather spine. The spine on this book is notoriously prone to wear; to breathe on it is to mar it, and this copy has only the slightest abrasions to the top and bottom of the spine. This is due to the fact that it retains its original mailing box (small splits at two joints; still sound) with hand-addressed printed label from the publisher, with the matching limitation number (255), this being one of 425 copies published, each SIGNED in blue ink by Rockefeller under his portrait. Each copy was presented to one of the attendees of the event at Forest Hill, and this copy was given to Mr. R. C. Norton of the Baker Motor Vehicle Company of Cleveland. Most interestingly, Baker was a maker of electric cars, surely the kind of invention that would have rubbed Mr. Rockefeller the wrong way! This copy also retains the laid-in printed note from the compilers of the book, which reads, in part: "Mr. Rockefeller knew nothing about [this book project] until he was asked to assist in selecting and to personaly sign a photograph which we could use. This he reluctantly consented to after earnest solicitation [...]." The very tissue used to protect the book in the box is also still present. The book occasionally appears in commerce, and if it hasn't been rebacked, then the spine is almost always the worse for wear. This is an exceptional example, certainly one of just a few that are likely to have retained the extra material. This volume is the only signed limited book ever produced during Rockefeller's lifetime.