Churchill and Roosevelt | The Atlantic Charter, [c. 1944], one of 100 copies, original wrappers

Sir Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt

Atlantic Charter, August 12th 1941. Somewhere in Holland: Busy Bee, [c. 1944]

8vo (169 x 126mm.), no. 54 of 100 copies, printed in blue and grey on Simili Japon paper, original printed sewn wrappers, browned slightly at edges, light foxing to front endpaper

A rare limited printing of the transatlantic statement which outlined the British and American governments' aims for trade, the economy and society following the war, providing the foundation for the United Nations Charter. It is formed of eight central clauses, and this edition was printed in secret "somewhere in occupied Holland," a specially produced version on japon separate from the 240,000 posters of the text printed in 1943 by the U.S. Office of War Information (see lot 15).

The Busy Bee, or De Bezige Bij, was illegally and covertly established during the Second World War in Utrecht, formed by the publisher Geert Lubberhuizen and composed of a group of students, to support the resistance. The provisional date for the publication of this work follows its founding, in December 1944.

LITERATURE:

Not in Cohen (Cohen lists four editions by different publishers, but not this printing) or Woods

PROVENANCE:

Mr L. Hartkamp, bookplate