Toward Freedom: The Autobiography of Jawaharlal Nehru.

NEHRU, Jawaharlal .

$4,500.00

Item Number: 146425

New York: The John Day Company, 1942.

Early printing of Nehru’s classic autobiography, from the collection of actor and author Aly Wassil. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated. Signed on the front free endpaper by the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, his sister, the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet portfolio, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, and Wassil with his ownership signature and annotation, “Aly Wassil M.I.T. October 21, 1949.” Born in Pakistan, Aly Wassil was a graduate of Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, and the author of several books including “The Wisdom of Christ,” “Rubaiyat of Modern Man,” “Song of the Saviour,” and “Dear Mr. President: An Open Letter to Richard Milhous Nixon.” He was also known to tour the lecture circuit, speaking on religious and spiritual topics. Widely considered one of the world’s leading women in public life in the 20th century, Indian political leader and diplomat Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit was active in the Indian nationalist movement and was imprisoned three times by the British authorities in India. She entered municipal government in Allahābād (western India) before entering the legislative assembly of the United Provinces (later Uttar Pradesh) and becoming minister for local self-government and public health (1937–39), the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet portfolio. In very good condition. An exceptional collection of signatures.

This autobiographical book was written by Jawaharlal Nehru while he was in prison between June 1934 and February 1935, and before he became the first Prime Minister of India. Diplomat Walter Crocker said, had Nehru not been well known as India's first prime minister, he would have been famous for his autobiography.