BRYAN, William Jennings (1860-1925). The First Battle. A Story of the Campaign of 1896. Chicago: W. B. Conkey Company, 1896.

8vo. Photographic frontispiece and plates. Original blind-stamped leatherette (rebacked). Provenance: Albert Shaw (1857-1947), editor and publisher (presentation slip and letter, see below).

FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, with a presentation slip inserted INSCRIBED BY BRYAN. [Laid in:] CONKEY, W. B. Typed letter signed ("W. B. Conkey") to Albert Shaw. Chicago, 22 March 1897. 1 page, 8vo. In full: "At the request of Hon. W. J. Bryan we send you a copy of his book, 'The First Battle.' He asks that in order to avoid embarrassment to him you make no public acknowledgment of the receipt of the book." Albert Shaw was the editor and publisher of the Review of Reviews, an influential monthly journal. After Bryan's performance at the 1896 Democratic Convention and subsequent nomination, Shaw remarked: "If, indeed, they had not heard of Mr. Bryan before, they had failed to follow closely the course of American politics in the past eight years. As a Democratic member of the Ways and Means Committee through two Congresses, Mr. Bryan was by all odds the ablest and strongest orator on the Democratic side of the House. His subsequent canvass [campaign] for the United States senatorship in Nebraska was noteworthy and conspicuous on many accounts."

[With:] BRYAN. Speech of William J. Bryan, Democratic Nominee for President, delivered at Notification Meeting, Madison Square Garden, New York, August 12, 1896. N.p., n.d. Original stapled wrappers (repair to fold, spotting). PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.