Two volume set of Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, from The Easton Press.
Octavo, [two volumes]. Red leather, title in gilt on spine, raised bands with decorative gilt compartments, gilt embellishments on covers. Silk endpapers. All edges gilt, silk bookmark. Both volumes unread. Includes laid-in Easton Press bookplate (unused), in both volumes. A fine set.
From The Easton Press, Exceptional: Why The World Needs a Powerful America, signed by Vice President Dick Cheney and Rep. Liz Cheney.
Octavo, 324pp. Red leather, title in gilt. Silk endpapers, all edges gilt. Includes paperwork from The Easton Press. Signed by Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney on limitation page, this copy being number 228 of 600 copies.
Vice President Cheney served in the administration of President George Bush from 2000-2008. He is widely considered one of the most influential Vice Presidents in modern history.
From the Easton Press, John Glenn: A Memoir, signed by Senator John Glenn.
Octavo, 422pp. Blue leather, title in gilt on spine. Silk endpapers, all edges gilt. Includes paperwork from the Easton Press. Signed on the limitation page by John Glenn, this copy being number 3,461 of 3,500. A fine example.
John Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth in 1962 and returned to space in 1998. He served in the United States Senate from 1974-1999. His wife, Annie Glenn, was a lifelong advocate for people with disabilities and communication disorders. She died in 2020.
Collector’s Edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Easton Press.
Octavo, 149pp. Green leather, title in gilt on spine and covers. All edges gilt, silk endpapers. Silk bookmark. A fine binding from The Easton Press.
The deluxe signed edition of Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose, from The Easton Press.
Octavo, 333pp, [2]. Full blue leather, title and decorative illustrations in gilt. All edges gilt, silk bookmark, silk endpapers. Includes bookplate and paperwork from The Easton Press. Signed on limitation page by Stephen E. Ambose. A fine example.
From the Easton Press, Reflections: Life After The White House, signed by First Lady Barbara Bush.
Octavo, 420pp. Red leather, title stamped in gilt on spine. All edges gilt, silk bookmark. From a limited edition of 1300 copies signed by Barbara Bush, this copy is numbered 421. Includes paperwork from the Easton Press.
302 pp. Gilt title on spine and decorative inscriptions on cover. Dark blue leather covers. Silk end papers and sewn-in bookmark. Blue cloth slipcase in fine condition. Signed by former President George H.W. Bush. Easton press paperwork included.
Comments: Most attractive of all Easton Press signed editions by the former President. Only edition with slipcase.
Signed collector’s edition of Truman by David McCullough, from the Easton Press.
Octavo, [two volumes]. Matching set, bound in full brown leather, title in gilt on spines. All edges gilt. Includes original paperwork from the Easton Press.
Signed by the author on tipped in signature page in Volume I. An attractive and collectible set.
This Pulitzer Prize-winning biography by author and historian David McCullough is part of a series of works that have helped to rehabilitate the legacy of President Harry Truman. Recent historians consider Truman’s time in office as one of the most consequential in American history, often ranking him in the upper tier of Presidents.
Limited edition of All The Best, George Bush from the Easton Press, signed by George Bush on limitation page.
Octavo, 640pp. Red leather, with gilt inscriptions and designs. Gilt leaf ends, silk endpapers. Unread copy. Signed on limitation page by former President George H.W. Bush. Accompanied by certificate of authenticity dated “Nov. 2, ’04” from The Easton Press.
While President George H.W. Bush never wrote a presidential autobiography, this collection of published letters gives insight into the political ideology and personal life the 41st President of the United States. This work has been used extensively in biographies of President Bush. A fine copy.
Limited edition of In My Time, signed by Vice President Dick Cheney.
Octavo, 565pp. Maroon leather, title in gilt on spine, decorative gilt on panels. All edges gilt. Sewn-in silk bookmark, silk endpapers. A fine example, flawless gilt edges. From a limited edition of 800 copies signed by Vice President Dick Cheney, this being number 348. This book is signed on limitation page, with associated paperwork from The Easton Press.
Book is signed on the limitation page, with associated paperwork from The Easton Press.
Former Vice President Richard Cheney served in the House of Representatives, representing the state of Wyoming, from 1979-1989. He had previously served as White House Chief of Staff for President Gerald R. Ford. In 1989, he was called upon by newly elected President George H.W. Bush to serve as Secretary of Defense. In 2001, he was asked to serve as Vice President for George W. Bush. He is often considered one of the most influential Vice Presidents to serve in the United States.
The Deluxe Collector’s Edition of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, complete in 39 Volumes, from The Easton Press.
This set is a re-creation of the 1901 Chiswick Shakespeare, with illustrations by Byam Shaw.
Octavo, [39 volumes]. Full burgundy leather, title in gilt on spines, raised bands, gilt decorations on all covers. Frontispiece in each volume. Printed on acid-free, archival paper stock. All silk endpapers, gilt leaf ends. Silk bookmark in each volume. All appear unread and in fine condition. Part of the 100 Greatest Books Ever Written series from the Easton Press.
This set contains the following titles:
· All’s Well that Ends Well
· A Midsummer Night’s Dream
· Antony and Cleopatra
· As You Like It
· The Comedy of Errors
· Coriolanus
· Cymbeline
· Hamlet
· Henry the Fourth Part I
· Henry the Fourth Part ll
· Henry the Fifth
· Henry the Sixth Part I
· Henry the Sixth Part ll
· Henry the Sixth Part lll
· Henry the Eighth
· Julius Caesar
· King John
· King Lear
· Love’s Labour’s Lost
· Macbeth
· Measure for Measure
· Much ado about Nothing
· Othello
· Pericles
· Richard the Second
· Richard the Third
· Romeo and Juliet
· The Poems of William Shakespeare Volume l
· The Poems of William Shakespeare Volume ll
· The Merchant of Venice
· The Merry Wives of Windsor
· The Taming of the Shrew
· The Tempest
· The Two Gentlemen of Verona
· The Winter’s Tale
· Timon of Athens
· Titus Andronicus
· Troilus and Cressida
· Twelfth Night
From the Easton Press, Forrest Gump, signed by the author, Winston Groom.
Octavo, 228pp. Red leather, decorative gilt. All edges gilt. Includes the paperwork from The Easton Press. A near fine example, signed on the limitation page by Winston Groom.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, from The Easton Press.
Octavo, viii, [2], 341pp. Full red leather, title in gilt on spine, raised bands with decorative gilt compartments. Silk endpapers, all edges gilt. A fine copy, appears unread.
Het Achterhuis or The Secret Annex, was first mentioned publicly in an article in Amsterdam in 1946, written by Jan Romein. The diaries were in the hands of Otto Frank, Anne’s father, who was interested in finding a publisher. The newspaper article piqued the interest of Contact Publishing, who produced a first edition of 3,036 copies on June 25th, 1947. The first edition of Anne Frank’s diaries contained the earliest printed version of her diaries. A second printing of the diaries was published in December of 1947. (Books of the Century, 180, 183) (Anne Frank House) The Definitive Edition, reproduced here by the Easton Press, contains material previously left out of earlier versions of the diaries.
Limited edition of All The Best, George Bush from the Easton Press, signed by George Bush on limitation page.
Octavo, 717pp. Blue gray leather, with gilt inscriptions and designs. Gilt end leafs, silk endpapers. Signed on limitation page by former President George H.W. Bush. Accompanied by certificate of authenticity dated “6-10-13” from The Easton Press.
While President George H.W. Bush never wrote a presidential autobiography, this collection of published letters gives insight into the political ideology and personal life the 41st President of the United States. This work has been used extensively in biographies of President Bush.
A fine copy.
As a rare book firm specializing in Americana and specifically Presidential History, were often asked what is the “most valuable” book written by a President, or what is the “rarest work by a President?” That’s never an easy question but were always happy to show them some interesting items from the 1700s from President Jefferson or a book signed by President Obama, depending on the customer.
Since the time of President Theodore Roosevelt, publishers have been selling limited edition printings of their authors writings. This is done for financial purposes and to draw attention to the publication. It’s also a nice way to guarantee that you’re getting an authentic signature from a President.
To clarify, this list is not the Top-10 Rarest Presidential books nor is it the Top-10 signed books by Presidents.
Here are the Top-10 Signed Limited Editions by Presidents, ranked from most common to some of the most difficult to find:
Published in 2010 after leaving office, this signed limited edition has been produced over 4000 times. It was originally offered for $350 retail, but due to the overproduction of this book, it has not grown in value like many other presidential publications.
Published in 1978, Nixon’s memoirs were greeted by the public with skepticism. Many doubted that he would acknowledge wrongdoing in the Watergate affair. Part of his public relations initiative was to sign numerous limited-edition printings of his Memoirs. For the cloth edition of his memoirs from Grosset and Dunlap, it is unknown how many were signed by the former President.
This covers President Ford and President Carter, who were prolific signers with Easton Press. While a nice way to get an authentic item signed by a former President, they often don’t hold their retail purchase price upon resale.
Housed in an attractive oak display case, when released in 1990, this was the ultimate collector’s piece for Reagan aficionados. Limited to 2000 signed copies, this signed book commands the highest retail prices of any Reagan signed piece. Another work by former President Reagan, Speaking My Mind, was released the same year with 5000 signed copies available.
Shortly after Wilson assumed the Presidency of Princeton University, this limited edition of 350 signed copies was released for the alumni of the university. A later limited edition of 400 copies, published in 1918, was also signed by President Wilson.
President Johnson published his best-selling memoirs in 1971. Along with the release of the public edition, he also did a limited edition of 300 signed copies, mostly for support of the administration. Admirers of Johnson and collectors alike can occasionally find these books for sale, but they’re scarce and often show signs of wear since they were covered in red vellum.
Theodore Roosevelt will appear twice on our list. He was a prolific author, writing over 45 books during his lifetime. While not every publication received a limited edition signed printing, a few did, including African Game Trails (500 signed copies), Outdoor Pastimes of An American Hunter (260 signed copies) and Big Game Hunting In The Rockies and on The Great Plains (1000 copies). Big Game Hunting was published in 1899, shortly before Roosevelt was offered the post of Vice President under William McKinley.
This limited-edition printing is the scarcest of all Theodore Roosevelt signed books. Published in 1905 during the height of his Presidency, new copies rarely appear on the market.
When published in 1948, 1426 signed copies of this book were produced with Eisenhower’s signature on the D-Day Order. In addition to the 1426 publicly available, a small number of copies were held back for the author’s personal use. These copies were bound in either blue morocco or red morocco, with an attractive flaming sword motif on the cover. The copies in red morocco were bound by the Gaston Pilon Bindery and pulled directly from the allotment of 1426 signed copies. There is some debate over how many red morocco copies were produced, with numbers ranging from 26-35, but regardless, to receive a copy in this presentation binding from General Eisenhower was a real honor. The blue morocco was from an even more limited run. According to early records, only 11 copies produced by the Whitman Bennett Bindery. The blue bound copies were not pulled from the limited edition of 1426. A truly unique piece of Presidential history.
This book was signed in a limited edition of 95 copies and given as gifts to supporters in 1962. While maybe not the smallest limitation number of any publication, finding an authentic signature from President Kennedy has driven up their value tremendously over the years.
So there is the list. Agree? Did we miss anything that should have been included? Let us know!
