APPLETON, Victor. Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone. Or The Picture That Saved a Fortune. Illustrated. NY: Grosset & Dunlap [1914]. 12mo, [iv] 216pp + [4]advts. Mustard cloth pictorially stamped in black and red. Halftone frontispiece. Spine ends a tad rubbed, edges of sheets lightly foxed but with no internal foxing, rear hinge starting, else an internally bright, clean copy in original color pictorial dust jacket (edges worn with some chips and a few closed tears, rear panel a tad soiled, spine sunned with a small stain). Rare in this very collectible condition!

First edition. The 17^th title in the Tom Swift series. Written pseudonymously for the Stratemeyer Syndicate by the prolific author of the Uncle Wiggly books, Howard R. Garis. Following the familiar formula of Swift creating a marvelous new invention and a new villain arriving who is intent on stealing his success, this captivating title is a thrill for any collector. Swift’s photo telephone was a product of fantasy when this book was published in 1914, but 90 years later would become a reality!

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