4to. (Contents dampstained near upper corner.) Original color pictorial wrappers (spine lightly worn, perhaps restitched, rear cover creased); folding chemise.

THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF HERSEY'S HIROSHIMA. INSCRIBED BY HIM on p.15, the opening of his work: "For Ken D. Joseph: with hope that this weapon will never be used again. John Hersey."

As one of the first Western journalists to visit the ruins of Hiroshima after the bombing, John Hersey was afforded a unique glimpse of its immediate effects upon the city and its people. The article and subsequent book he wrote described in great detail the horrors of the atomic bomb and is credited with helping to inspire the American public towards a more compassionate opinion of Japan and its people following the end of the Second World War. First published in full in the New Yorker, the issue sold out in hours and was rushed into a second printing. This was the first time the magazine had devoted its entire editorial content to a single work.