4to. Original printed wraps (light toning, soiling); folding case. Provenance: Wayne W. Johnson, personnel director of the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago during the Manhattan Project (ownership signature on front cover).

WAYNE W. JOHNSON'S PERSONAL COPY OF THE SMYTH REPORT.

The Smyth Report, or Atomic Energy for Military Purposes as it would later be published for the public at large, was the first administrative history of the Manhattan Project. The first printing of 1,000 litho-printed copies was conducted under heavy security in the Adjutant General's Office at the Pentagon after initial mimeographed copies of the work stamped "SECRET" on each page were distributed to high-ranking military members and were then immediately destroyed. Many of these early printed copies are notable for missing pages deemed too sensitive for public knowledge, in particular VI-12 (present here) which discusses plutonium production rates. The work was originally distributed with the words "Atomic Bombs" stamped above the title in red, missing here. These copies were kept locked away until three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima after receiving final approval for release from President Harry S. Truman.