Survival. The Salvage and Protection of Art in War
New York: Abelard Press, 1950. 8vo. xi, 291 pages. Black-and-white plates. Original cloth; pictorial dust jacket. Jacket a bit worn and with a few soft chips/nicks and creases along edges, spine toned, lightly shaken. Item #406734
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed and signed by both authors on the front free endpaper: "To Joseph N. Frank / With all good wishes / James J. Rorimer / Gilbert Rabin." The recipient was the American literary scholar Joseph Frank, a leading expert on the life and work of Fyodor Dostoevsky.
A scarce title, inscribed or not, by one of the principle "Monuments Men." Rorimer, an American museum curator and director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was a primary force behind the creation of the Cloisters, and during the Second world War served in the U. S. Army's Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section, tasked with recovering stolen artwork and protecting cultural sites. 'Survival' details the efforts to detect and stop Nazi looting of art and their systematic spoiling of Allied treasures. Rorimer made contact with the French Underground and was prominent in the steps made by the Allied armies to prevent damage to historic cathedrals, castles and palaces in the path of the War. The book also tells the story of the Einstatstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (the ERR), the far-flung, powerful Nazi organization involved in the looting, and how Goering amassed his huge, personal collection of art.
Price: $750.00