Description
Inscribed by First Lady of the Confederate States, Varina Jefferson Davis, first edition of The Mother of Washington and Her Times by Mrs. Roger A. Pryor.
Octavo, xvii, 367pp, [1], [2pp ads]. Blue cloth, title in gilt with decorative color illustrations stamped on spine and front cover. Top edge gilt. Stated “published October, 1903” with no additional printings listed on copyright page. Solid text block, light wear to gutters, rubbing to tips. Faint soiling to covers. Complete with all 61 listed illustrations, including frontispiece. Signed “V. Jefferson Davis” on front pastedown.
Varina Davis (1826-1906) was the only First Lady of the Confederate States of America and the second wife of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. After the death of President Davis in 1889, Varina completed her husband’s autobiography, Jefferson Davis: A Memoir, but it was not a bestseller as she had hoped. She moved to New York in 1891 and become a full-time columnist for the New York World newspaper.
