Dies, Edgar Jerome. The Wheat Pit. 3rd printing. (Chicago: The Argyle Press, 1925)

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Dies, Edgar Jerome. The Wheat Pit. The Argyle Press, Chicago, 1925. 3rd printing.

Binding: Hardcover. Book Condition: Very Good- Condition. Size: Around 7" or slightly taller - Duodecimo (12mo). 63 pages. Item Type: Book.

Third printing (January 1926) of the first book by Dies, a financial writer who served on the Chicago Board of Trade. It provides an explanation of how the Grain Exchange operated. Several books on commodities trading followed, including a fictional account, "The Plunger: or, the Story of the Wheat Pit," with a story that draws from the non-fiction background in this book. In a story that sounds familiar, the AP reported on Sept. 30, 1930, that the Chicago Board of Trade was investigating wheat hedging by Soviet Russia. The last paragraph of the story mentions this book: "To other statements, in which it was suggested the government should go beyond the Russian charges and investigate 'grain gambling,' officials referred their inquisitors to a book called 'The Wheat Pit' by Edward Jerome Dies of the board of trade. In it Dies explains the necessity for hedging as a means of insurance and declares the speculator balances the market" (printed in the Jacksonville Daily Journal, p. 1).

The text block is generally tight with paper that has lightly tanned from age. although there is a separation between pages 32 and 33, exposing the webbing of the binding. The frontispiece is a picture of "The Pit" in action, printed on glossy stock and there is a drawing of the Grain Exchange on the verso of the last leaf of text. An unusual feature of this copy is that a tissue paper has been tipped onto page 31 with the typewritten text for a paragraph that had some words deleted. It seems unusual that the deletion would still show up in the third printing and is remarkable that the thin paper with the correction has survived intact.

Bound in green paper-covered boards with the title printed in black within a bordered frame on the cover. Three of the corners are sharp, but the lower corner of the front cover is worn through the paper. There is some shelf wear at the head and foot of the spine. A label with a library bar code covered with clear tape is glued to the rear cover, with the bar code blacked out. No foxing in this copy. Ex-Lib copy with the title and author written in white on the spine. The shelf number at the foot of the spine has been blacked out. There is a pocket for a card on the front free end paper, which has been stamped "Withdrawn" and the library's name blacked out. The only internal markings are the call number and ascession number on the copyright page. A library stamp on the bottom page edges has been blacked out, as well.

Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: 0 lbs 6 oz. Category: Business, Finance & Marketing; Grain trade -- Illinois -- Chicago; Chicago Board of Trade; United States; 1920s; ISBN: No ISBN. Inventory No: 1280.