Morris, Sylvia Jukes

Edith Kermit Roosevelt: Portrait of a First Lady

ISBN: 0698109945
New York, NY: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1980. First Edition. Hardcover. Inscribed & signed by Sylvia Jukes Morris. "Born in 1861, Edith Kermit Carow could not remember a time when the neighboring Roosevelt children were not part of her life. She was especially close to young Theodore, her childhood sweetheart, and they seemed destined for a life together. Then, at Harvard, Theodore fell in love with the captivating Alice Lee. He married her upon graduating in 1880, and Edith's world fell apart. The marriage, however, was as brief as it was idyllic. In 1884 Alice died after giving birth to a daughter and a grief-stricken Theodore fled to the Dakotas. Perhaps afraid of old emotions, he avoided Edith on his visits home. Yet, after a dramatic chance meeting, they became secretly engaged and were married in London in 1886. Thus began one of the happiest relationships in American politics." (from front flap) The compelling, dramatic & ultimately triumphant story of Edith Kermit Roosevelt (1861-1948), the second wife of the iconic American President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). British-American journalist & author Sylvia Jukes Morris (1935-2020) was the wife of the great American Presidential biographer Edmund Morris (1940-2019) & an acclaimed biographer in her own right. This, Morris's first book-length work, is the product of years of laborious research & is the first-ever full biography of EKR ever published. With captioned historical photographs throughout, notes & index. Hardcover in unclipped first-issue dust jacket (with "8005" printed on front flap), first edition, first printing with no references to further printings on copyright page. On the title page, below her printed name, Morris has hand-written, signed & dated in the year of publication in bold black ink: "To dear Tania, who "Warms/ both hands before the fire/ of life."/ With very much love from/ (signed) Sylvia. October 11, 1980." From the collection of George V. Buehler (1933-2020), who was a prominent real estate developer & collector in Massachusetts & Arizona. We found & have retained, between blank rear endpaper & paste-down, two printed-out documents relating to Buehler's purchase of this volume during early 2015, one of which has the card of venerable bookseller Jeffrey Bergman Books affixed, along with a signed note to Buehler from Bergman in bold black ink, both folded once horizontally & in very fine condition. Also present, between pgs. 174-175, is a mint promotional-subscription card for the Christian Science Monitor used by Buehler as a bookmark, featuring image of an issue of CSM with the title article "Putin Decoded," most eye-rollingly ironic as of this writing we would say. See also our item No. 4864, Morris's epic two-volume biography of Clare Boothe Luce. An outstanding work of American biography; a primary SJM collectible in its rarest original form with her exceptionally affectionate inscription & distinguished provenance. Book in fine condition with mild-to-moderate browning, spotting & mild rubbing to margins, edges & corners of beige-colored cloth front, back covers & spine (gilt lettering at spine fully bright & intact); light rubbing, browning & occasional spotting to edges of text block. Interior very fine with only a touch of browning at blank margins of page leaves; tiny bumps at corners of a few of same. Dust jacket fine with light rubbing, browning & occasional spotting to front, back covers, spine & flaps; a bit of wear & some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of same. Fine / Fine. [Item #4979]

Price: $100.00