Description
From the personal library of Eleanor Roosevelt, a collection of detailed portraits of former First Ladies.
Octavo, [48pp], [4 blanks]. Bound in soft brown calf with “Eleanor Roosevelt” stamped in gilt on front cover. Yellow silk endpapers. No publication information or additional printings listed. Solid text block, light wear to spine, small loss to top rear corner and head of spine. Faint foxing throughout, a near fine example. Eleanor Roosevelt’s personal bookplate affixed to verso of front free endpaper, with estate label “A66” placed above. Each portrait includes name printed in black ink and protection from neighboring leaves with tissue guards. A unique piece with no other known examples of this publication.
Includes portraits of the following former First Ladies: Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Martha Jefferson Randolph, Dolley Payne Madison, Louisa Catherine Adams, Sarah Jackson, Sarah van Buren, Angelina van Buren, Letitia Christian Tyler, Sarah Polk, Abigail Fillmore, Harriet Lane, Mary Lincoln, Eliza Johnson, Martha Patterson, Julia Grant, Nellie Grant Sartoris, Lucy Webb Hayes, Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, Eliza Ballou Garfield, and Francis Folsom Cleveland.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States alongside her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The two were in office from 1933 to 1945. She redefined the role of first lady with her outspoken support of civil and human rights, and later served as a US Delegate to the United Nations from 1945 to 1952. Roosevelt was known to collect pieces relating to former first ladies. For example, she had six first lady dolls made by the International Doll House, including Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, Dolly Madison, Rachel Jackson, Mary Todd Lincoln, and Julia Dent Grant. (Historic Furnishings Report 1986)
