[GERALD FORD'S HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK] PIONEER ANNUAL OF 1931, SIGNED 9 TIMES BY FORD

Grand Rapids, MI: South High School, June 1931. First Edition. Hardcover. Light and expected wear and soiling. Very Good, and we do not hesitate to say, fairly scarce. Quarto (7-3/4" x 10-1/2") bound in textured gray cloth, gilt-stamped on the front cover; 171 pages. A typical high school yearbook, filled with small individual photographs of students as well as larger group poses and with many student autographs throughout. What makes this extraordinary is that it belonged to a high school classmate of future President Gerald Ford and Ford has SIGNED the book no less than nine times with three different forms of his signature. On page 24 near his printed individual portrait and a commentary listing him as a member of the National Honor Society, the Student Council, Sodalitas Latina, the glee club, and the football, basketball, and track teams (captain of the football team that won a state championship his senior year), Ford has SIGNED as "Gerald Ford." At other places in the book, on or around photographs depicting him, Ford has SIGNED seven times as "Jr." (Apparently his high school nickname, Ford was born Leslie King, Jr. and renamed Gerald Ford, Jr., after his adopted father). On page 108, listing members of the National Honor Society, Ford has SIGNED once again, this time as "Gerald." The athletic group photographs depicting Ford are interesting and may be otherwise unknown. All in all, a remarkable association piece that is certainly one of the earliest autographs of Gerald Ford to appear on the market.