Relief to Royalty: The Story of James J. Braddock World’s Heavyweight Champion.

LUD. [SHABAZIAN LUDWIG] FOREWORD BY DAMON RUNYON,.

Item Number: 105036

New York: Privately Published, 1936.

First edition of Shabazian Ludwig’s biography of heavyweight champion “Cinderella Man” James J. Braddock. Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine, illustrated with photographs including photographic frontispiece portrait of Braddock. Foreword by Damon Runyon. Runyon gave Braddock the nickname “Cinderella Man” upon his unlikely comeback in 1935 when he fought Max Baer for the heavyweight title and won. Signed and inscribed by nine boxers on the front free endpaper and verso of the front panel by British heavyweight boxer Henry Cooper, Braddock’s camp trainer Harry Raskin, Bill Irby, Whitey Hurwitz, Jack Russel, Charley Massera, Jack McCarthy, Max Long, and Bill Margolis. Fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. Exceptionally rare.

Fighting under the name James J. Braddock (ostensibly to follow the pattern set by two prior world boxing champions, James J. Corbett and James J. Jeffries), Braddock was known for his spoiling, counterpunching style, powerful right hand and his iron chin. Years after the publication of this authoritative biography, his story was retold in the 2005 biographical film Cinderella Man, directed by Ron Howard and starring Russel Crowe and Renée Zellweger.