Description
Presentation copy of the first edition of The Naval War of 1812 by Theodore Roosevelt, his first published work.
Octavo, xviii, 498pp, [2pp ads], [2]. Publisher’s dark blue cloth, title in gilt on spine. Illustration of a fully rigged sailing vessel on cover. Cloth binding variant A, with gray-brown endpapers. Some darkening to cloth spine, front hinge showing wear, but solid. Darkening to top edge of text block, light wear to tips of spine. Free of marks or notations, solid text block. Complete with 20 in-text illustrations, many full-page.
(Cole & Vail, A3a) (Howes R431)
A notable copy, with the “Compliments of the Author” slip affixed before the title page, one of two known examples retaining this honor.
Roosevelt began writing this book during his senior year at Harvard. He later noted that the first chapters he wrote at Harvard “…were so dry that they would have made a dictionary seem light reading by comparison.” Over the next two years, he refined this narrative and published the book at the age of 23. The first edition of Naval War was published in May 1882, at a retail price of $2.50 per issue. This first edition was issued in three types of cloth: dark blue, olive green and reddish-brown. Subsequent editions were printed using the same plates, but with “second edition, third edition, etc.” added to the title page.
