Books offered by JF Ptak Science Books

German Report on British Bombing Raid on Hydrierwek Scholven AG 1940

Allied Bombing and a Report on Damage to German Industry:

Fliegerangriff in der Nachct vom 17./18.8.40 auf die Hydrierwek Schloven AG. 

1940.  Fine condition.  With 27 original photographs displaying bombing damage 

**NOTE: Hdydrierwerk Scholven A.G. was a synthetic petroleum plant and was one of the earliest targets of the British in the Ruhr Valley. It was owned by the Hibernia Mining Company, as a hydrogenation plant in 1935. Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area.

Publication Data: no indication of author/printer or which agency/department was responsible, but this looks like (to me) to be the beginning of a standard protocol on reporting damage from British bombing raids. It seems as though the typing under the captions is first generation. This may be a unique copy or perhaps (at worst) one of several. I would say it was of extremely highly limited distribution.

Size: 11.5 x 8.5 inches. 20 leaves with 27 original photographic images of damage caused by the bombing. Each leave is quite thick—much more stiff and heavy than a 110-lb cover stock sheet. The photos are all 3 x 4.5 inches, and are clear and bright.

Condition: fine condition.

Provenance: ex-library, U.S. Library of Congress. This book was part of a very large collection of 90,000 pamphlets that we bought of the U.S. Library of Congress. Known simply as the “Pamphlet Collection” it is identified by a distinctive and tiny 3mm perforated stamp, plus a bookplate at the front pastedown.

Binding: bound in thick cloth boards.  $500.00

"Gelsenkirchen in the time of the Third Reich In the time when the Nazis held sway in Germany, Gelsenkirchen, owing to its location in the heart of the Ruhr area, was a centre of wartime industry. In no other time has Gelsenkirchen's industry been so highly productive. This brought about, on the one hand, after the massive job cuts in the 1920s, a short-term boost in mining and heavy-industry jobs. On the other hand, the city naturally became the target of many heavy Allied bombing raids during the Second World War, which destroyed three fourths of Gelsenkirchen. Even today, many old above-ground air-raid shelters can be found in the city, and some of the city's official buildings such as Hans-Sachs-Haus downtown and the town hall in Buer have air-raid shelters still kept more or less in their original form. Two synagogues in Gelsenkirchen were destroyed in the anti-Jewish riots of Kristallnacht in November 1938. The one in Buer was burnt down. The one in downtown Gelsenkirchen was likewise destroyed. Exactly 66 years later, the cornerstone was laid there for a new synagogue. The Institute for City History set up a documentation site: "Gelsenkirchen in National Socialist times". Throughout the time when Hitler was in power, from 1933 to 1945, the city's mayor was Carl Engelbert Böhmer, an NSDAP member..." 

Speaking for an Oppressed Minority, 1944: the Japanese in America, WWII

JF Ptak Science Books  

70,000 American Refugees, Made in U.S.A., by Truman  B. Douglass. "The Citizens Committee for Resettlement, 6501 Wydown Blvd., St. Louis 5, Missouri, 25 cents. May also be ordered separately at cost indicated. Reduced price in quantities. Community Preparation for Resettlement of Japanese Americans, published by The Committee on Resettlement of Japanese Americans, The Federal Council of Churches".  Truman B. Douglass Grinnell, Iowa, 1901-1969, was instrumental in the forming of the United Church of Christ in 1957. 7.5x5.5 inches, 20pp. 1 page of photos.  Original printed wrappers.  A small "LC" perfoated is stamped on the front cover as well as the remnants of a receiving stamp. Bright, crisp copy.  Rare. $150

This pamphlet, 70,000 American Refugees, Made in U.S.A., by Truman  B. Douglass¹, was a sympathetic appeal to the deeply grave situation legislated to 140,000 Americans. They were Americans of Japanese descent, many of them U.S. citizen, who by Executive Order 9066  were ordered to stand down from their lives for the sake of national security and be removed to distant and remote internment camps beginning in May 1942, mostly for the duration of the war.  There weren't that many appeals for the primacy of the rights of these people at this time--the war for the United States was newly begun via the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor some months before--and the understanding was to protect the security of the country via the segregation and housing of what were seen to be the potential enemies in the existing Japanese-American population.

Rare and Very Early Psychological Report on Hitler, from the O.S.S. Library

Murray,  Henry A..  Worksheets on Morale. Seminar in Psychological Problems of Morale.  Cambridge, Mass:  Harvard University,  1942 (?).  1st edition.  150 leaves  4to.  Original printed wrappers.  Very good condition.  Published by Harvard University, Department of Psychology. 152 leaves, 15 sections, ca. 90,000 words. (Two copies of this work are located via WorldCat: Harvard and Illinois State University).

Provenance:  OSS (Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA)  Library via the Library of Congress.

This work by Gordon Allport and Henry A. Murray contains several sections on what has been recently hailed as the earliest psychological profile of Adolf Hitler. Evidently there were only 30 copies of this report made; it is exceptionally rare.

The sections include: (1) Aim of Seminar, 2 lvs; (2) Selected Bibliography, 1941, 3 lvs; (3) Notes on the Definition of Morale, 3+3lvs; (4) Determinants of Good and Bad Morale, 18 lvs; (5) Historical Trends of National Socialist Ideology, 14 lvs; (6) Hitler the Man, Notes for a Case Study, 22 lvs; (7) Education in Nazi Germany, 8 lvs; (9) Strategy and Tactics for anti-Nazi propaganda, 10 lvs; (10) Democratic vs. Totalitarian Morale in Groups, 5 lvs; (11) Standards of Democratic Morale-Building in the U.S., 6 lvs; (12) Civilian Morale Building Techniques, 7pp; (13) Psychology of Influence (Education Persuasion) Applied to Morale Building in America, 16 lvs; (14) Long-term Aspects of Democratic Morale-Building, 7 lvs; (15) Analysis and Execution of Propaganda Campaigns, 18 lvs.

The portions of this publication concerning the psychological profile of Hitler seem to pre-date the very recent re-publication of Murray's very obscure 1943 work again published for the OSS on the psychological composition of Hitler. The date of publication of these sheets is somewhat uncertain, although there are no references dated after 1941. 

These sheets were obviously not intended for a wide distribution. It is interesting to note the circulation card in the pocket at the rear of this work as it bears the signature of David N. Yerkes. I spoke with Mr. Yerkes a dozen years ago and inquired after his interest in this work (taken out on 7 June 1944 and returned 14 June 1944), and he told the story that Henry Murray was a pupil of his father's, who was Robert Yerkes, former president of the American Psychological Association, Professor of Psychology at Harvard and innovator in the use of psychological testing and training of American servicemen during WWI.    $5,500.00

Sautter & Lemonnier,  L..  Note sur les Applications de la Lumiere Electrique a la'Art Militaire et la Marine Militaire.  Paris:  L. Sautter, Lemonnier & Cie.,  1879.  1st edition.  32pp  8vo.  Original printed wrappers.  Good  condition.  The title continues: "pour signeurs, eclairage a grandes distances, travaux de nuit, etc."

The pamphlet was published by the manufacturers and distributors, L. Sautter, Lemonnier & Co who were "Constructeurs de Phares lenticuleurs et de Machines de Gramme", and to this time were known particularly for their work in lens for lighthouses. This is a very early work on the military applications of the electric light, and is also quite rare, seemingly unknown to the OCLC/WorldCat as there are *no* copies listed. This copy was formerly in the collection of the U.S. War Department (with a very light rubberstamp on the fron cover dating its acquisition in 1883) and more rececntly from the Library of Congress.    $500.00

Allied Bombing and a Report on Damage to German Industry-- Fliegerangriff in der Nachct vom 17./18.8.40 auf die Hydrier.  1940.  Fine condition.  With 27 original photographs displaying bombing damage  Title: : Fliegerangriff in der Nachct vom 17./18.8.40 auf die Hydrierwerk Scholven A.G.  $750.

JF Ptak Science Books 

I've written a number of times on this blog about WWI images, many of which are in my own collection of News Service Photo Group images, like the one just below, which can be found here. Many of them are remarkable, astonishing even--especially those relating to soldiers whose war has ended, finding them as prisoners of war.  At least they weren't dead, like the dozens of millions of other soldiers.

 

(Original photograph available at our blog bookstore here.)

I uncovered another of these images, tonight, long misplaced.

Image:  black and white photo, 5x7 inches. Good condition.  $400.00

There were over 8 million soldiers taken prisoner during WWI, that in addition to the 21 million who were wounded and the 9.7 million killed:  38 million.  Plus 6.8 million civilians who were killed: 45 million.  And the numbers for civilians wounded are just, well, not reliable, as they were not really collected, or collectible.  At the end of it all, there were probably between 50 to 75 million soldiers and civilians killed or wounded or taken captive during the war...not including civilians who were killed by the hardships or starvation caused by the conflict.  Big, big numbers.

Some of these soldiers were taken in entire armies, surrenders of hundreds of thousands; and some came in pairs, or singles, as in the photo above.  There are two captured Germans here, the two men in the middle, who are flanked by a British soldier and (I think) a Canadian officer, with two locals in the background.  The short man front-and-center was paraded no doubt for his propaganda value--certainly not five feet tall, slender, with a tiny, not-average face.  The Tommy is certainly enjoying the situation, while the officer maintains composure. 

The photograph was made in 1918, a few months before the end of the war, but there was still fighting to be done, and the value of showing the the British and Allied publics the "face" of a now-wilting enemy must have been considerable.  There was considerable control and tightness over the sort of images allowed to be produced and published coming from the front line, photographs being made by a "pool" of news photographers the contents of which were closely evaluated by military censors before being allowed to circulate to newspapers and magazines.

[BROADSIDE]  Grave Folly of Pro-Czech Policy...  published by the Militant Christian Patriots, September 1938.  Rare.  From the Pamphlet Collection of the Library of Congress.  10x8 inches.  Old vertical fold.  Very good copy.  $175

Here's a slathering piece of propaganda published by the Militant Christian Patriots (of London) on how the British government was dealing with the Nazi/Seudeten problem in September 1938.  In their gunsights was Anthony Eden, who was seen by this group as a Bolshevist supporter, and who as the Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom under Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was against the appeasement policy of the government towards Nazi territorial acquisitions, particularly in this case with Czechoslovakia.  Eden. identified here as "backed by the Zionists, Fabian_Scoailists and "pacifist" League of Nations enthusiasts" was a multiple threat, and seen to be capable of directing national policy towards a confrontation with Germany over the looming Czech problem.

On the other hand, Neville Chamberlain, who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at this time (and from May 1938-May 1940), was seen as a better ideological fit with his issues and policies of appeasement of the German nationalist needs and territorial rape. Chamberlain certainly gave what Christian Militants wanted--a free hand to Hitler in Czechoslovakia (and more), and perhaps an acknowledgement of defeat to the Nazi nation.  Winston Churchill certainly thought so:

"We have suffered a total and unmitigated defeat... you will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi régime. We are in the presence of a disaster of the first magnitude...we have sustained a defeat without a war, the consequences of which will travel far with us along our road...we have passed an awful milestone in our history, when the whole equilibrium of Europe has been deranged..."  Winston Churchill, MP, 1938

The Christian Militants saw it all differently, tending to agree with Hitler on the Czech matter, and seeking to keep the U.K. out of confrontation and thus away from war by giving Hitler (and then Mussolini) what they demanded to satisfy their growing national needs. 

"I am asking neither that Germany be allowed to oppress three and a half million Frenchmen, nor am I asking that three and a half million Englishmen be placed at our mercy. Rather I am simply demanding that the oppression of three and a half million Germans in Czechoslovakia cease and that the inalienable right to self-determination take its place." -Adolf Hitler's speech at the NSDAP Congress 1938

Eden resigned his position earlier in the year, in March 1938, but stayed in the fray.  As everyone knows things went badly at the end of the month of September, 1938, with Chamberlain letting everything go and appeasing Hitler in the Munich Conference (known to the Czechs as the "Munich Dictates" and worse) in which bits of Czechoslovakia were given to Germany in a series of meetings in which that country was not invited.

And so the P.M. returned to the home country having done nothing in Germany but give away a part of someone else's country, all in a feeble attempt at maintaining peace for Europe's key players.  He landed at Heston Aerodrome and held a piece of flimsy paper in his hand, which was battered by a tiny wind, and declared that there would be "peace in our time" because Hitler's signature said it would be so, all of which was a "prelude to peace" in Europe as a whole:

"My good friends, this is the second time there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Now I recommend you go home, and sleep quietly in your beds."

Less than a year later it would all come crashing down, the appeasement policy (such as it was) a shambles, and the world plunged into war.  Chamberlain would last as P.M. for a little longer, until May 1940, when he was at last replaced--by Winston Churchill. 

Collection of Air Warden/Air Raid Precaution Mimeographs

(1)  Lecture Manual for Air Raid Warden Instructions, March 9, 1942.  Mimeograph, 11x8 inch sheets; 28 leaves and 27 leaves of appendices.Printed by the WPA in San Francisco.

(2) Course Outline, Aerial Bombardment Protection.  11x8 inch mimeograph sheets, printed by New York University, College of Engineering, 1942. 

with (2b) Separately printed and bound sections of the above.  Chapter XIX (Air Raid Shelters), pp 59-72. 

(3) Air Raid Shelter Requirements, by Horace W. Peaslee (Chair, American Institute of Architects).  1942.  16pp. Mimeograph sheets.

All rare.  The three: $350.00

From the Pamphlet Collection, the Library of Congress.

Rare Work on French Parachutists, 1943/4

Very Scarce!

Corps Parachutiste.  No date, and no place of publication other than "Imprime en Angleterre" (stamped on the back cover).  7x5 inches, 16pp, illustrated with photos. Very nice condition. In printed wrappers.  $150

From the "Pamphlet Collection" of the Library of Congress, which stamped the pamphlet 17 April 1944.  I do not know exactly when this was printed, except to say that it was 1940-1944.  My guess is that it was printed in England for distribution to French in exile and also to the French in France. 

There are no copies whatsoever located in WorldCat/OCLC. 

The full work, as follows (a small gift to others with a soft spot for Airborne):

Unique (?) Copy of an Interesting Book

JF Ptak Science Books

History of the Second Division (Regular) AEF. Text. -AND- History of the Second Division (Regular) AEF, Notes.  "Copyright 1936, The Second Division Historical Committee, Major General Preston Brown, Chairman." 13.5x8", two volumes, 282+156pp.Copies of typed sheets, three-hole-punch-bound at left.  Nice copies.

This is evidently what would be published as the The Second Division, American Expeditionary Force in France, 1917-1919, by J.W. Wright (text) and Oliver L. Spaulding (Notes), as the work above and this share the same copyright number. The authors are not identified in this work. 

This copy is a Copyright Deposit copy--or, rather, one of them--and was purchased from the Library of Congress.  Both volumes were issued with stiffer, larger paper wrappers, but these are now detached and chipped.  The text however is in excellent condition.

From Wikipedia: "The 2nd Infantry Division was first constituted on 21 September 1917 in the Regular Army. It was organized on 26 October 1917 at Bourmont, Haute Marne, France. At the time of its activation, the Indianhead Division was composed of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, which included the 9th Infantry Regiment and the 23rd Infantry Regiment; the 4th Marine Brigade, which consisted of the 5th Marine Regiment, the 6th Marine Regiment and the 6th Machine Gun Battalion; a battalion of field artillery; and various supporting units. Twice during World War I the division was commanded by US Marine Corps generals, Brigadier General Charles A. Doyen and Major General John A. Lejeune, the only time in U. S. Military history when Marine Corps officers commanded an Army division."