Marshall McLuhan Signs The Book Contract For His Landmark Work Understanding Media

MARSHALL McLUHAN (1911-1980). McLuhan was a philosopher, media critic and communications theorist. He is best remembered for creating the expressions the medium is the message and the global village and predicted the internet almost thirty years before it was invented.TDS. 4pg. October 18, 1961. No place. A book contract signed Marshall McLuhan as the author and Harold McGraw Jr. as a representative of McGraw-Hill Book Company and two witnesses. The agreement states that McLuhan will deliver a manuscript entitled Understanding Media by June 1, 1962 and it will be between 80,000 and 100,000 words. McLuhan would receive an advance of $2,000, half of (truncated) which was due upon the signing of the contract and the subsequent half upon receipt of completed manuscript in form satisfactory to the Publisher. As for royalties, McLuhan received 10% on the first 10,000 sold copies, 12.5% on the next 5,000 copies and 15% of all sold books beyond 15,000. Understanding Media was released in 1964; the influential book had the famous phrase best associated with McLuhan, the medium is the message. The contract has the usual filing folds and is in fine condition. A great document related to a landmark non-fiction book. (Inventory #: 6544)