End of Economic Man First Edition - Peter F. Drucker - Bauman Rare Books

End of Economic Man

Peter F. DRUCKER

Item#: 81779 We're sorry, this item has been sold

End of Economic Man

“PIONEERING SOCIAL AND MANAGEMENT THEORIES”: FIRST EDITION OF THE END OF ECONOMIC MAN, 1939,THE FIRST BOOK BY LEADING POLITICAL ECONOMIST PETER DRUCKER

DRUCKER, Peter F. The End of Economic Man. A Study of the New Totalitarianism. New York: John Day, (1939). Octavo, original black cloth, original dust jacket, uncut and partially unopened. Housed in a custom chemise.

First edition of Peter Drucker’s treatise on the threat of fascism, his first book, reviewed and championed by Winston Churchill, who made it “required reading for the newly graduated British officer,” an exceptionally fine copy, scarce in original dust jacket.

“Even people with no time for business can find something worth reading in the writings of Peter Drucker.” Born in Vienna, this renowned political economist and business writer watched as fascism crushed the Europe. In The End of Economic Man, his pioneering first book, Drucker examines fascism, totalitarianism and anti-Semitism in hopes of strengthening “the will to maintain freedom” (xv). He recalls watching a street mob cheer wildly as a Nazi official proclaims: “We don’t want lower bread prices, we don’t want higher bread prices, we don’t want unchanged bread prices— we want National Socialist bread prices.” To Drucker, this event epitomizes fascism’s power. For when hope is reduced to a price for bread that is beyond reason, we understand “the despair of the masses is key to the understanding of fascism” (13-22). On publication in 1939, Winston Churchill soundly championed Drucker’s End of Economic Man and made it “required reading for newly graduated British officer.” Ultimately Drucker’s historical perspective and a view “that big business and nonprofit enterprises were the defining innovation of the 20th century led him to pioneering social and management theories” (New York Times). Foreword by Drucker; introduction by H.N. Brailsford.

A fine copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
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