Systems of Survival (signed association copy)
NY: Random House, 1993. First edition. Hardcover. A great association copy, inscribed in heartfelt and extensive fashion on the title page: "For Carl Marzani, whom I've long admired--in succession--as an essayist; a star of the stage (M. Beaucaire); the most debonair tennis player I've ever seen, to this day; a fabled traveller; a very brave and staunch dissident; and now as one of those rare autobiographers who is simultaneously a first-rate biographer of his place(s) and time. Yes, this is a fan letter covering six decades plus. With great affection, as well as the admiration, Jane Jacobs, June 1993."
Just as the inscription suggests, Carl Marzani lived the varied life of an activist, and he came into the limelight when he served three years in prison for hiding his communist affiliation while working the State Department. He was a filmmaker, an important dissident publisher, and the author of more than dozens books, including The Wounded Earth: An Environmental Survey. See his New York Times obit for a brief sketch. (Quite oddly, some of this inscription from Jacobs is used as a blurb for Marzani's memoir, as if he passed it on to his publisher . . . as he should have.)
Jane Jacobs is world renown for her influence on urban planning via The Death and Life of Great American Cities and her activism in New York City, where she battled Robert Moses to save Greenwich Village and advocated for sidewalk vitality. This book puts forward the idea that human behavior is governed by two distinct ethical systems: the guardian, "which arrises from behavior that we share with other animals--foraging for food and protecting our territories," and the commercial, "arriving from trade and the production of goods, an endeavor unique to humans." Trouble in society can occur when these syndromes are misapplied or clash. "Keenly argued and gracefully written, Systems of Survival will forever affect the way we look at business, politics, and morality."
A very good book with foxing to the top edge and one bump to lower front corner. In a very good jacket with some soiling and rubbing, more noticeable at its edges. A few brief notations in blue pen on the front free endpaper. An amazing inscription and a nice New York City activist association. Very good / Very good. Item #1510
ISBN: 9780394550794
Price: $1,500.00 save 5% $1,425.00