New York: E.P. Dutton, 1943. First edition. Presentation copy, inscribed on the front free endpaper, "To Louis Jones – All I hope is that you'll find enough fighting in this book to prove Hitler wrong when he called us a nation of sissies. Woody Guthrie" and dated "4-10-43." A Very Good copy in like dust jacket. Octavo. With photographic portrait frontispiece and illustrations in the text by Guthrie. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, pictorial design on front cover in gilt, top edge yellow, fore-edge untrimmed. With dust jacket. A few pencil markings in margins. Light bumping to spine ends and lower corners, subtle lean to spine; unclipped jacket chipped and worn at extremities, closed tear to upper front panel, loss at foot of spine just affecting publisher's mark.

Bound for Glory is a semi-fictionalized autobiography of Guthrie's life, tracing his early years "riding the rails" and his later success as one of America's most significant singer-songwriters. Now considered a classic of "Dust Bowl literature," the book influenced figures like Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Cash, and John Steinbeck. Bob Dylan was particularly moved by the book. He later wrote, "I went through it cover to cover like a hurricane, totally focused on every word, and the book sang out to me like the radio." It was later adapted into a 1976 motion picture of the same name starring David Carradine as Woody Guthrie.

We could not precisely determine the identity of the "Louis Jones" of the inscription. He may have been Louis C. Jones, the New York-based folklorist who served as the director of the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown from 1947 to 1972. When Bound for Glory was published, Guthrie was living in Pete Seeger's Almanac House in New York, and may have encountered Jones through their shared interest in folklore and folk music. Another possible option is the country singer Louis M. Jones (1913 – 1998), though this seems unlikely, as he was enlisted in the Army at the time Bound for Glory was published and was not discharged until 1945. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. (Item #8048)