REED JOHN: (1887-1920) American journalist, poet, and communist activist, best known for his coverage of the October Revolution in Petrograd which he recounted in his book Ten Days That Shook the World (1919). A scarce D.S., John Reed and John S. Reed (in the form of endorsements), being a cheque issued and signed by both Horace B. Liveright, President, and Herman Elsas, Secretary, of Boni & Liveright Inc., New York, 11th July 1919. The partially printed cheque, completed in another hand, is drawn on The Fifth Avenue Bank and made payable to Reed for the sum of $461.47. An ink annotation to the verso indicates that the payment was for the balance of royalties due on Ten Days That Shook the World. Signed twice by Reed to the verso, a couple of bank cancellations only very slightly touching the signatures. VG

Horace B. Liveright (1884-1933) American publisher and stage producer who, assisted with investment from his father-in-law, paper executive Herman Elsas, founded Boni & Liveright in 1917. They became the first American publisher of William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Sigmund Freud, E. E. Cummings, Hart Crane, and Anita Loos amongst others.