(NY 1928 1st Scribner. Hardcover. Octavo, 318pp., index, h...)
NY 1928 1st Scribner. Hardcover. Octavo, 318pp., index, hardcover. Owner signed. Good plus, no DJ.
https://www.amazon.com/My-autobiography-Benito-Mussolini/dp/B0006AKGNK?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B0006AKGNK
Richard Washburn Child was born on August 5, 1881 at Worcester, Massachussets, United States. He was the son of Horace Walter Child, a shoe manufacturer and orchid expert, and Susan Sawyer Messinger. His earliest American ancestor was William Child, who emigrated from England and settled in Watertown, Massachussets, about 1630.
Richard was educated at Milton Academy and at Harvard University, from which he received the degree of A. B. in 1903 and that of LL. B. in 1906.
After graduating from the law school he went to Washington as correspondent for Ridgeway's Weekly and other publications. Later he joined the staff of Collier's. In 1908 he became legal adviser to Stone & Webster, Boston engineers and builders, and while traveling in their behalf gathered material for magazine articles. In 1915 he opened a law office in New York City, where he practised intermittently, mainly in connection with the organization of business enterprises. In 1933 he established the law firm of Child, Handel & Axman in New York City. Although he never actually forsook the law and had a not unimportant diplomatic career, Child made his main reputation in the literary field. "Somehow, " he wrote of himself, "I never cure myself of being a spectator". He was hardly out of college before the articles, short stories, and novels which made him one of the popular writers of the day, began to flow from his pen. Much of his work that appeared in book form was originally contributed to Collier's and the Saturday Evening Post. He wrote in an easy, familiar, conversational style, with a colorful turn to his phrases, and homely but striking metaphors. His novels and stories were realistic portrayals of life, with a provocative touch of the philosophical. His articles were skilful and effective attempts to awaken widespread interest in hitherto unpopular subjects, such as crime prevention and diplomacy. If his writing lacked profundity and polish, it was nevertheless both entertaining and stimulating. Child helped to organize the Progressive party in Massachusetts in 1911, and as associate state chairman he became acquainted with Frank A. Vanderlip, who drafted him to take part in war finance work for the United States Treasury in 1917-18. He also traveled in Europe as a war correspondent, and his book on Russia (post) contains the articles he wrote. He supported Gen. Leonard Wood [q. v. ] at the Republican National Convention in 1920, but when Warren G. Harding was nominated, Child became his confidential adviser and prepared many of his campaign speeches. He also organized a group of authors and journalists to support Harding. In 1919, following the Peace Conference, he was employed by the British Government to make certain studies of reconstruction problems. From 1919 to 1921 he was editor of Collier's. On May 26, 1921, President Harding appointed him ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Italy, a post which he held until his resignation on February 11, 1924, and one which was completely in accord with his temperament. His political experience as well as his understanding of human nature and his genuine interest in people were excellent qualifications for the post. He greatly liked the Italians, and to the Italians themselves, according to an American visitor to Italy, he was "persona gratissima" during his ambassadorship. Child conceived an intense admiration for Mussolini and later assisted him in writing his autobiography, published only in English under the title My Autobiography, by Benito Mussolini (1928). He was greatly impressed with the Fascist movement, its energy, efficiency, and discipline, and wrote glowingly of its "lyric and epic quality, " its "breath of youth and of a great national spirit. " To him it seemed the embodiment of "gladness, hope, loyal service. " The darker aspects of Fascism he disregarded. While ambassador, Child represented the United States as observer at the Genoa and Lausanne conferences in 1922. At Lausanne he proposed the principle of "the Open Door in the Near East. " The Italian Government bestowed on him the decorations of the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus and the Order of the Crown of Italy. To supplement a salary which fell far short of meeting the social demands on an ambassador in a European capital, he continued to turn out occasional magazine articles and short stories. He professed a profound disillusionment for European diplomacy, and urged a "realistic" isolationist policy for the United States. It is probable that his vivid writing contributed much toward stimulating popular interest in American foreign relations and policies. Back in private life he plunged again into civic and literary activities. He wrote extensively for the Hearst press. In 1932 he organized a Republicans-for-Roosevelt League and campaigned for the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt. On March 2, 1934, he was appointed special adviser (with the rank of ambassador) to Secretary of State Hull in his capacity as chairman of the United States delegation to the London Economic Conference, and was directed to visit various European countries and ascertain the views of leading statesmen on the current and prospective economic situation. He died of pneumonia in New York City, at the age of fifty-three. The day before his death he was received into the Roman Catholic Church. In addition to many magazine articles and stories, his publications include Jim Hands (1910); The Man in the Shadow (1911); The Blue Wall (1912); Potential Russia (1916); Bodbank (1916); The Vanishing Men (1919); The Velvet Black (1921); Fresh Waters and Other Stories (1924); A Diplomat Looks at Europe (1925); The Writing on the Wall: Who Shall Govern Us Next? (1929); and The Pitcher of Romance (1930).
He helped organize the National Crime Commission in 1925, the purpose of which was to enlist public interest in the investigation, treatment, and prevention of crime, and wrote a book, Battling the Criminal (1925), based on his researches. He promoted industrial arbitration and became president of the Arbitration Society of America. He served as an aide to Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover in Mississippi flood relief work. During the early nineteen thirties he was active in organizing and promoting the interests of American foreign bondholders.
(NY 1928 1st Scribner. Hardcover. Octavo, 318pp., index, h...)
Child was married four times, his first three marriages ending in divorces. On January 28, 1904, he married Elizabeth Scott Mallett, writer and member of a prominent Virginia family; on August 10, 1916, Maude Louisa Parker, an author, by whom he had two daughters--Anne and Constance; on September 10, 1927, Eva Sanderson, his literary secretary; and on September 28, 1931, Dorothy (Gallagher) Everson, by whom he had a daughter.
He was a shoe manufacturer and orchid expert
She was an author
She was his literary secretary
She was a writer and member of a prominent Virginia family
