Lions

Theodore Roosevelt’s handwritten draft of the lion chapter from his book Life Histories of African Big Game.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1914

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Frederick Courteney Selous asks if President Roosevelt would consider writing a short introduction for the book he has written about African animals. Selous plans to dedicate the book to Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-04-19

Creator(s)

Selous, Frederick Courteney, 1851-1917

President Roosevelt participates in a variety of events at the circus, including taming “political lions” to riding “trust” bulls to flying on a trapeze to juggling to directing the Republican elephant.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12

Creator(s)

Zimmerman, Eugene, 1862-1935

The British Lion, the Russian Bear, a cat labeled Austria, and three dogs labeled “France, Italy, [and] Germany” gather around a table for Thanksgiving dinner. The British Lion is holding a large knife labeled “Dismemberment of Turkey,” but the platter is empty. Looking in from the left is a turkey wearing a fez labeled “Turkey.” Caption: Turkey — Ha! Ha! How disappointed they look! Now I have lots to be thankful for.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-11-25

Joseph Chamberlain holds a pair of shears labeled “Protection” and is about to trim the mane labeled “Free Trade” of the British Lion.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-08

President Roosevelt thanks J. H. Patterson for the copy of his book, and agrees that the lion story is truly excellent. Roosevelt is impressed with Edward North Buxton’s conservation efforts in East Africa, and wishes that he had the good fortune to take a hunting excursion there.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-25

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt sends Frederick Courteney Selous a foreword for his book. Roosevelt hopes that Selous will consider adding the articles about the “Uganda Railway man-eating lions” as an appendix to his book. Roosevelt sends Selous a few photographs of him jumping his young horse.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-25

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt is most interested in what Frederick Courteney Selous wrote about the cheetahs. Roosevelt hopes that Selous will take a hunting trip to India and advance the knowledge of big game.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-01-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt has very much enjoyed Frederick Courteney Selous’s articles and hopes he will write a book about the natural history of big game. Roosevelt appreciates Selous’s ability to describe sights vividly and accurately.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt thanks Frederick Courteney Selous for the copy of Swayne’s Travels and is glad to send a photograph of himself, and looks forward to receiving the rest of what Selous is going to send him about lions. Roosevelt hopes that Selous enjoyed his visit to the White House.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt tells William Sturgis Bigelow the book is the “most interesting present I have received.” Roosevelt especially enjoyed the night photographs of the lions. The president also remarks, “Banzai! How the fur will fly when Nogi joins Ōyama!”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-01-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt writes to Frederick Courteney Selous about big game hunting and authors of the sport. Roosevelt was disappointed by the inaccuracies in Percy Selous’s book, which he bought because it was co-authored with Henry Anderson Bryden. Roosevelt offers congratulations to Selous and his wife on the upcoming birth of their first child and talks about his own family life and the obstacles it produces for getting away despite being fond of his wife and six children. He longs for an extended hunt but will settle for reading of other wildernesses like those in Selous’s book. Roosevelt presumes they would both count Fitzwilliam Thomas Pollok a fake based on his writings since he includes some experiences “that are all nonsense,” much like the writing of Henry Astbury Leveson, the Old Shikari. Roosevelt says that both Pollok and Leveson’s work would “have done credit” to the adventure writer Mayne Reid. Roosevelt also thinks William Henry Drummond “was not always an exact observer” based on what Selous wrote. Roosevelt mentions the black rhinoceros attacks William Astor Chanler and Ludwig Ritter von Höhnel experienced when in Africa and that he has just finished the book by John Guille Millais that Selous sent him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1898-02-15

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Edmund P. Dole asks Theodore Roosevelt about how big a large lion could realistically be for a novel he is writing.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-05

Creator(s)

Dole, Edmund P. (Edmund Pearson), 1850-1928

Fred Thompson is sending Theodore Roosevelt a lioness that he no longer has a use for.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-25

Creator(s)

Thompson, Fred, 1873-1919

Julius Holz writes to Theodore Roosevelt in admiration of his work and big game hunting specimens. Holz was recently disappointed at the exhibition of Roosevelt’s specimens from his African safari, and Holz hopes to learn more about the exhibition from Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-20

Creator(s)

Holz, Julius, 1856-1941

Edmund Heller writes to C. M. Miller about the Paul James Rainey safari, as they just completed a two-month long hunt. Their journey in Africa turned into a lion hunt. Heller rarely took part in the hunts and devoted his time to taking care of the skins they collected and trapping carnivores. The amount the safari collected “duplicates the material” in Theodore Roosevelt’s collection, and adds new species. They are now moving north towards the desert and are traveling with camels. Heller sends the manuscript of the paper on the white rhinoceros. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-18

Creator(s)

Heller, Edmund, 1875-1939

Caspar Whitney sends Theodore Roosevelt a letter and photograph that he vetoed for publication in Outdoor America because he believes it is a fake. He wonders what Roosevelt thinks of it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-07

Creator(s)

Whitney, Caspar, 1862-1929

Recipient

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Cecil Andrew Lyon forwards Theodore Roosevelt a clipping from R. W. Marshal regarding George Grey’s death following an encounter with a lion.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-01

Creator(s)

Lyon, Cecil Andrew, 1869-1916

W. L. Cleveland, a self-avowed non-nature fakir, shares interesting incidents of lions during mealtime at the zoo that he used to illustrate selfishness and selflessness in his Sunday school. He assures Roosevelt of California’s support and asks him to speak at his school in Los Angeles.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-11

Creator(s)

Cleveland, W. L.

Ernest Thompson Seton was glad to receive the latest news from Theodore Roosevelt’s hunt in Africa. Seton’s book on North American mammals came out earlier in November and has received good reviews. A copy is waiting for Roosevelt in New York. He offers a discussion about the relationship between monogamy and sanitation practices among mammals. He believes that monogamy is more beneficial and asks if Roosevelt can pay attention to any evidence of polygamous ruminants with sanitary practices. He also points out that lions are believed to be monogamous and asks Roosevelt to keep signs of monogamy in mind while collecting information about them.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-11-29

Creator(s)

Seton, Ernest Thompson, 1860-1946