Goodman (Benny) and Irving Kolodin. The Kingdom of Swing

New York, Stackpole, 1939.

First edition. 8vo. Original black cloth. Dust-jacket, priced $2.00.

The first edition of this account of big band swing by one of the leading band leaders of all time, his concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938 described by one contemporary critic as “the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz’s ‘coming out’ party to the world of ‘respectable’ music.” Swing began to lose favour after this time, so this book marks an interesting period in 20th century popular music.