A TREASURY OF THE WORLD'S GREAT LETTERS : From Ancient Days to Our Own Time

New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1940. First Edition, 5th Printing . Hard Cover/Stitched. Near Fine/Good. Archival Photographs. Text/NEW & Bright. Gilt embossed red linen boards/Fine. DJ/Good w/edge rubs & closed tears, and loss to lower back corner. Dyed upper text edge. This anthology of some 120 letters is assembled by M. Lincoln ("Max") Schuster (1897 - 1970) co-founder, with Richard L. Simon (1899 - 1960), of Simon & Schuster publishing house in 1924. Schuster's interest in the letters of men equaled his interest in men of letters; he began collecting them in 1915. 563 pgs in 2 parts: I, Letters of Long Ago (334 BC - AD 1675); and II, Letters of Not So Long Ago (1747 -1896. Arranged chronologically, each letter is preceded by an introduction in terms of time & space with a brief biography of the writer, followed by an epilogue regarding the consequences the communication brought. In time, they range, specifically, from Alexander the Great to Thomas Mann. In the Introduction, Schuster discounts prevalent thought of his time that telegraph & telephone will bring the demise of "the art of lettering writing". May we trust, today, that the art will survive Emails and Twitters. 563 pgs in 3 parts: Part I, Letters of Long Ago (334 B.C. to 1675); II, Letters of Not So Long Ago (1747 to 1896); and III, Letters of Yesterday & Today (1898 to 1937), supplemented w/Classification of Letters by Subject Fine copy with lesser dustjacket.