Without Fame: The Romance of a Profession (Signed First Edition)

Signed and dated by Otto Eisenschiml at front endpaper: "For Norman Green, with sincere wishes, Otto Eisenschiml, Oct. 19, 1942." Very attractive and neat inscription. First printing with no additional printings stated. Copyright 1942 by Alliance Book Corporation. Fine maroon full cloth boards, sharp gilt stylized spine titles on deep black field with gilt bands, light shelf wear. Pages very good with attractive toning. Red top-stain, good. Bind fine, moderate cant; hinges intact. Scarce original wrapper with pictorial vignette, moderate edge wear, rub, chip to front panel; unclipped 3.50, protected in new clear sleeve. Contents: "Preface; I. Along the Beautiful Danube; II. New Ventures in the Old City; III. Preparing to Serve Mankind; IV. Living Down a Diploma; V. Smokestacks and Blast Furnaces; VI. Odd Jobs and Odd Places; VII. Oil from Linum Usitatissimium; VIII. A Chemical Potpourri; IX. Of Garbage and Detectives; X. 'Your Are Fired'; XI. One Problem After Another; XII. Servants of Mankind; XIII. On the Witness Stand; XIV. A Joy Ride in Commodities; XV. Austria is Dying; XVI. A Servent Leaves the Kitchen; XVII. Profits - What to Do With Them; XVIII. The Lure of History; XIX. Roast Beef and Green Peas; XX. At the Crossroads." From the author of the monumental 1937 title, "Why Was Lincoln Murdered?" comes this inspiring auto-biography from the mind of a true iconoclast, historian, scientist and chemist. Chemistry! There was magic in the word for young Otto Eisenschiml while growing up in Austria. He attended the University of Vienna and obtained advanced degrees in chemistry. Through school he went despite his family's poverty. After graduating, he went to work among the hard-muscled men in America's ever-grinding steel mills, glass factories, oil plants and other industries. Otto then founded his own business on humane principles unheard of prior. He devised one of the earliest deodorants, an analytical method used by the Department of Agriculture, window envelopes, rust-proof barbed wire for the armies in Flanders and dozens of other useful ideas and inventions. Some large, some small that have seamlessly flowed into daily life. He became a servant of humankind discovering secrets in beakers, flasks and kettles as a chemist and inventor. He was involved through this in the rise of America's standard of living and the fortifying of her military. This was Otto's dream, and much of it came true. Otto Eisenschiml led valiant fights against unethical misrepresentations of chemical products and assisted in writing laws abolishing these dishonest practices. Later, Otto was awarded the degree of Doctor of Literature for his monumental work, "Why Was Lincoln Murdered?"; the first of two brilliant books on Abraham Lincoln and the assasssins. These earned him an international reputation as historian. This book, "Without Fame," reveals a new facet of Dr. Eisenschiml's character. Beyond being a creative scientist, he has been a kindly businessman and probing historian. In these pages, Otto offers many an amusing anecdote or story, much sound advice, and a rarely matched knowledge of many people in all walks. "Without Fame" is an intricate mosaic of 'little' people and big ones, their lives and events, buinesses and philosophies, all revealed with sharp-etched clarity as part of fertive Industrial America, a growing, powerful, unpredictable place of dreams and achievements. Here, Otto becomes raconteur - one with entertaining, insightful and pungent wit. People are real individuals to him. Characters do not pass by as mere names; they are halted, introduced and made friends of the reader before leaving. Otto knows the great scientists of America and here many of them are rewarded with their first public recognition for contributions to modern society. This story is spiced with the delightful stories of the denimed worker with dinner bucket, and on to such personages as Baron Rothschild, Charles Schwab, Donald M. Nelson, et al. Otto Eise.…