WICKHAM STEED - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 05/06/1921 - HFSID 25031

WICKHAM STEED
The influential British journalist writes to American department store pioneer Edward Filene. A rare signature with a notable association
Typed Letter signed: "Wickham Steed", 1 page, 7¼x9. London, 1921 May 6. On letterhead of The Times to Edward A. Filene, William Filene's Sons Company, Boston, Massachusetts. Receipt date stamp of May 23. In full: "Thank you for sending me 'The Book of Business', which I shall peruse with much profit. I shall have much pleasure in renewing our acquaintance when you reach London next month. Yours very sincerely". Wickham Steed (1871-1956) was a Paris correspondent for US press mogul Joseph Pulitzer before joining the staff of The [London] Times in 1896. For the times, he reported successively from Berlin, Rome and Vienna, forming strongly anti-German views. He became foreign editor at the newspaper in 1914, just in time to voice influential calls for Britain to enter World War I. He advocated the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and creation of a new nation of South Slavs: Yugoslavia. Following the Russian Revolution, Steed became an ardent anti-Bolshevik, calling for intervention in the Russian Civil War. Although he would later be among the first British journalists to warn of the dangers of Hitler, Steed was outspokenly anti-Semitic, although this bias didn't prevent him from cultivating ties with American department store innovator and credit union pioneer Edward Filene. Lightly creased. Corners creased. Toned at edges. Multiple mailing folds. Ink stamp. Otherwise, fine condition.