RARE Benjamin Franklin Book Set (3) Signed Carl Van Doren Limited First Edition For Sale

Edition: This is the "Limited Issue," restricted to only 625 numbered sets produced worldwide.

Copy:This set is numbered#420, as handwritten on the limitation page.

Signature: It is signed by the author, Carl Van Doren, directly on the limitation page in the first volume.

Format: Unlike the standard "trade" edition (which was a single thick book), this deluxe edition was split into three volumes.

Volume Titles: The volumes are titled "Philadelphia," "London," and "Paris" (visible on the front covers). These correspond to the three major geographic phases of Franklin's life and career.

Pulitzer Prize: This specific work won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. It is widely considered one of the most authoritative biographies of Franklin ever written, as Van Doren worked directly from Franklin's original manuscripts and letters.

Production Quality: The set was printed on "Worthy all-rag paper" (high-quality, acid-free paper that resists yellowing) and bound by the Russell-Rutter acquired this set from the estate of George Nelson Dayton, a member of the Dayton family who founded the "Dayton's" department stores in Minneapolis MN in 1902. It is signed by George on one of the blank pages as shown in the pictures. Included is the gift tag from Wally (George's son or grandson) that was found inside one of the editions. I kept it for prevenance purposes. The family tree is pictured herein and you can see Wally and George listed.
Dayton's was an American department store chain founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. It operated several local high-end department stores throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest for almost 100 years.[1] Although it was regionally known as a high-quality shopping destination, Dayton's is best remembered for starting the discount shopping chain Target. The company was also instrumental in the history of shopping malls, opening the first indoor shopping mall in the United States—Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, in 1956.
In 1969, Dayton's merged with Michigan department store chain Hudson's to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation. The Target division of the company eventually grew so large that in 2000 the corporation was renamed Target Corporation. Dayton-Hudson had acquired Chicago-based Marshall Field's in 1990 and Target rebranded Dayton's stores as Marshall Field's stores in 2001 in an effort to focus more on discount retailing. In 2004, Marshall Field's was purchased by May Department Stores, which subsequently merged in 2005 with Macy's, turning the remaining Marshall Field's stores into Macy's department WITH CONFIDENCE- I have a no-questions asked satisfaction guarantee. I have been on for 20 years and recently divested my business account. I maintained 100% positive response for decades (never received a single negative mark) and I'm very proud of that. I'm now doing a little more selling (and buying) on my personal account.
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Shipped USPS Priority Mail.
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