The Devil in the Book

Los Angeles: California Emergency Defense Committee, 1956. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. 1st edition, 1st printing, limited, no. 683 of 750 signed by Trumbo in red ink. There was also an unsigned issue for those who used the request form at the back of this issue to purchase more. Staple bound, stiff printed wrappers with some toning to the edges, else near fine. This is an essay by Trumbo inwhich he describes the conviction of 14 California Communists under the Smith Act of 1940. The 14 defendants were not accused of any illegal act, but rather of conspiring to "teach and advocate the violent overthrow of the government of the United States." Though they had not actually done this, but it was alleged that they were planning the revolutionary education at some future date. In the Late 1940s Trumbo was in the first group of Hollywood blacklistings, and among the first from Hollywood to be called to testify before HUAC. (Inventory #: 960)