A Message to Garcia.

HUBBARD, Elbert.

Item Number: 139623

East Aurora: Roycrofters, 1901.

The scarce signed limited edition of Hubbard’s work of legendary fame, one of 450 numbered copies. Octavo, original red seude. Signed by Elbert Hubbard. Near fine in the rare original box. Rare and desirable.

A Message to Garcia is a widely distributed essay written by Elbert Hubbard, expressing the value of individual initiative and conscientiousness in work. The essay's primary example is a dramatized version of a daring escapade performed by an American soldier, First Lieutenant Andrew S. Rowan, just before the Spanish–American War. The essay describes Rowan carrying a message from President William McKinley to "Gen. Calixto García, a leader of the Cuban insurgents somewhere in the mountain fastnesses of Cuba—no one knew where". The essay contrasts Rowan's self-driven effort against "the imbecility of the average man—the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it"