Description
Log Of The Cruise Of President Franklin D. Roosevelt To Dry Tortugas Florida, a limited publication, inscribed to his lead Secret Service Agent, Paul Hart.
Octavo, [25 leaves]. Plain paper wrappers, bound at spine with staples and cloth binding tape. Printed on 23 mimeographed leaves, tipped-in photograph of Fort Jefferson on second leaf. (Halter, page 191) (Horowitz, 83) Includes the White House envelope and recipient’s business card. Housed in custom blue cloth clamshell case, title in gilt on cover over red morocco label, compartment for envelope with archival sleeve. This copy is inscribed on the title page to Roosevelt’s Secret Service Agent, who accompanied him on the cruise: “For Paul Hart, from Franklin D. Roosevelt.” This copy is from the private estate of Paul M. Hart, Missouri City, Texas, February 2021. Possibly the scarcest of all the Roosevelt cruise logbooks.
From Halter’s research, there were a total of 17 logbooks, issued between 1934-1945. They were all privately printed, with the authorship being unknown for each volume. It is suspected that FDR military aide Edwin M. “Pa” Watson authored this volume, but there is no direct attribution. One other copy of Log of the Cruise of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Dry Tortugas Florida appeared in the 1996 Glenn Horowitz sale, and we can find one copy held by the Library of Congress. This fishing trip off the coast of Florida aboard the presidential yacht Potomac included visits to Miami and Fort Jefferson. The President was accompanied by his son James Roosevelt, Harold Ickes, Edwin M. Watson, recently widowed Harry Hopkins and twelve staff members. The President was suffering from a tooth infection during the trip, but was in good spirits. Soon after the trip concluded, Harry Hopkins was admitted to the hospital with stomach cancer and required life-saving surgery.
