NY: Simon and Schuster, 1974. First edition. Quarto; black cloth; white spine titles; dust jacket. 221pp. Mild sunning to spine ends; toning and light soiling to textblock edges; black endpapers lightly faded. Unclipped ("$15.00") jacket with moderate wear to spine ends, tips & along top edge, including several short tears and small chips; sun-bleaching to flap perimeters. Very good (+) in very good jacket. Inscribed, respectively, by Gaines and Butler to ffep: "New York Nov 27, 1974 To Natasha, who has persevered beautifully through all of this. With thanks & best wishes Love, Charles," and "Natasha This yearbook is written and photographed for you only Love, George." Additionally, this copy signed and inscribed ("love") by Arnold Schwarzenegger to a photograph of himself on p. 94.
A remarkable first edition copy of this iconic work of sports journalism, responsible for legitimizing bodybuilding in the public eye, and doubly for launching the film and celebrity careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger, then 27 years old and little known outside the bodybuilding world. We have been unable to determine the identity of the "Natasha" in Gaines and Butler's inscription, though evidently she played a key role in the book's production. We surmise that this copy was signed by all three while on a promotional tour. In his 2017 memoir Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, Schwarzenneger recounts attending a party for the book on October 12, 1974 - the same night he won his fifth consecutive Mr. Olympia title, at Madison Square Garden. Later he also acknowledges the extensive promotional efforts undertaken to ensure the book's success.
