Unpublished, 1960. together with a similar letter 1 page, typed and signed “Ben A Smith” on United States Senate headed note paper addressed to Mr. E.(sic) Paul Getty, President, Getty Oil Italiana, Via Torino 6, Rome Italy and dated October 13 1961 concerning the same Gino Palladino who “I understand has been interviewed and found well qualified” and requesting news of the gentleman’s “prospects”.
The two letters together in one envelope printed top left “United States Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. Free.” and top right a printed signature of John F. Kennedy U.S.S.” and addressed to Mr. Getty, President of the Oil Refining Company, Gaeta, Latina, Italy. Envelope a little age-stained, the letters fine and fresh.
Benjamin Atwood Smith II (1916-91) was a room-mate of JFK at Harvard and a close friend of the Kennedy family. He took JFK’s seat in the Senate as a “seat warmer” until Ted Kennedy became 30 and old enough to qualify for election.

[New York : Avant Garde Media Inc. September 1969]. Large 4to, (290x280mm), 60 unnumbered pages, original paper wrappers bound at the end, finely bound in dark orange goatskin with coloured onlays, signed on lower turn-in of back board “A.J. 1975”, preserved in a cloth drop-back box. the box somewhat faded but the binding immaculate.
Avant Garde was a magazine notable for graphic and logogram design by Herb Lubalin. Published in New York, it ran to 14 numbers between January 1968 and July 1971 [See Wikipedia]

Renowned designer bookbinder Arthur William Johnson (1920-2004) after studying art at Hornsey, Hammersmith and Camberwell colleges, started teaching bookbinding at Hammersmith and in 1950 was a founder member of the Hampstead Guild of Scribes and Bookbinders, which later became the Guild of Contemporary Bookbinders and then Designer Bookbinders. The present binding, one of several that he made for this work, is a highly stylized abstract erotic scene complimenting Picasso’s engravings.

[London] : Motor Racing Publications Limited. [1949]. First Edition
4to, 420 pps, 46 plates, (many fold-out) and line drawings through the text, together with an 8vo booklet, 32 pp, printed paper wrappers, “Supplement containing: Corrigenda and Addenda, Index, List of Line Illustrations in the Text, and List of Graphs” inserted in a pocket inside back cover, original publisher’s cloth, minor wear, a sound copy.
“This book is written with three distinct, if related, sections. The first of these gives a summarised history of Grand Prix racing in 1906-39 ; the second paints a broad picture of engineering development in this period by describing seventeen typical Grand Prix cars [including a Blower Bentley see p.182 et seq] with specification lists.... ; whilst the third section provides a contiuous historical narrative of technical change and relates engineering factors to road performance”. - from the Foreword.
The exceptional line drawings and cross-sectional views are by L. C. Cresswell, the finest engineering draughtsman of his age.