This Month: Presidential Biographies/Autobiographies/Hagiographies

As we close in on the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, we have an opportunity to look at past US presidents, their elections, their terms, and their accomplishments.

Here you'll find biographies and personal writings from and about beloved presidents like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as less often highlighted presidents like Grover Cleveland and Robert A. Taft.

And as a bit of extra, we highlight two miniature books, as well! Lack of space means we couldn't include a variety of other media, such as sound recordings, letters, broadsides and pamphlets, tickets to President Nixon's inauguration, and even Bill Clinton's high school year books! Please search the IOBA listings for these and other items of interest.

Abraham Lincoln: A History, Complete in Ten Volumes

by John G. Nicolay ; John Hay 

Publisher: The Easton Press,
Place of Publication: Norwalk CT (2011)
Binding: Hardcover
Edition: Limited Edition

The authors were Lincoln's private secretary and assistant secretary, and also served in various other governmental roles, Hay going on to become Secretary of State under McKinley and Roosevelt. Originally published serially in The Century Magazine beginning in 1886, it remains one of the more exhaustive and personal accounts of the life of the 16th President of the United States, and is notable for the inclusion of facsimiles of original drafts of important documents, most importantly the Emancipation Proclamation.

Complete in ten hardcover volumes. Maroon Saderra pigskin, gilt titles & decorations, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers designed by Peggy Skycraft, white ribbon marker bound into each volume, lithography by Falcon Press. Printed on Finch Vanilla Vellum paper Maps and illustrations throughout. Available Here.

The Life of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Forces by John Marshall

Publisher: James Crissy
Place of Publication: Philadelphia (1831)
Edition: Second Edition
Binding: Hardcover

Full title: The Life of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the American Forces, During the War Which Established the Independence of His Country, and First President of the United States. Compiled under the Inspection of the Honourable Bushrod Washington, from Original Papers Bequeathed to Him by His Deceased Relative., in Two Volumes.

A biography of the first President of the United States, by a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who influenced the development of American constitutional law.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Marshall (September 24, 1755 - July 6, 1835) was an American statesman and jurist who shaped American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court a center of power. Marshall was Chief Justice of the United States, serving from February 4, 1801, until his death in 1835.

Marshall greatly admired George Washington, and wrote a highly influential biography. Between 1805 and 1807, he published a five-volume biography; his Life of Washington was based on records and papers provided him by the president's family. The first volume was reissued in 1824 separately as A History of the American Colonies. The work reflected Marshall's Federalist principles. His revised and condensed two-volume Life of Washington was published in 1832. Historians have often praised its accuracy and well-reasoned judgments, while noting his frequent paraphrases of published sources such as William Gordon's 1801 history of the Revolution and the British Annual Register. Available Here.

The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt,

by Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Publisher: Random House
Place of Publication: New York (1938)
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt

Full Title: The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. With a special introduction and explanatory notes by President Roosevelt

First five volumes (as published, eight additional volumes were added later). Original full gray calf. One of 500 unnumbered copies. Bookplate in each volume, corners and edges of the spines a little rubbed, a very good set, lacking the original cardboard slipcase. This copy Inscribed by Franklin D. Roosevelt to Samuel Falk, and below F.D.R.'s inscription, it has also been Inscribed to Falk by the compiler, Samuel I. Rosenman. Available Here.

The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency 1963-1969
by Lyndon Baines Johnson

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart, Winston
Place of publication: New York (1971)
Binding: Hardcover
Edition: First Edition
Signed by L. B. Johnson

First edition. Near fine in a very good dust wrapper with mild yellowing on the spine, wrinkles on the rear panel, a small tear at the bottom of the front panel, and one small tear each at top and bottom edges of the rear panel. Signed by the author on a tipped in page. Not sure if this is a true signature or an autopen... we suspect all Johnson signatures on a tipped in page would be by autopen. Available Here.

Robert A. Taft 

Grover Cleveland

The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga
by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Commissioner Roosevelt: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt and the New York City Police, 1895-1897 by H. Paul Jeffers

Dealer Catalogues and Varia

Yesterday's Muse Bookstore: Presidential Catalog (PDF)
Blind Horse Books: New Adventures for a New Year (PDF)
Yesterday's Muse Bookstore: Best of 2016 Catalog (PDF)