Your TR Source
John S. Sanburn, of The American Magazine, sends President Roosevelt proofs of a story about Abraham Lincoln written by Ida M. Tarbell in the hopes that Roosevelt would read it and offer his opinion on the story. Sanburn believes that Tarbell has captured Lincoln’s character.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-02
Caspar Whitney wants to publish an authoritative account of President Roosevelt’s plans for his safari in Collier’s magazine. He would like to feature a short article written by Roosevelt himself. If this is not possible, Whitney requests Roosevelt’s permission to contact his safari companion, Edgar Alexander Mearns, to ask the same. Whitney attaches a press release about his new column “Outdoor America” in Collier’s magazine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-06
Lawrence F. Abbott asks President Roosevelt to sign off on an article if he feels that it is ready for publication. The Outlook would prefer to have article published as a contribution with Roosevelt’s name under the title of the article, rather than as an editorial with his signature at the end of the article, as that form will be saved until after March 4, 1909, when Roosevelt is officially working for the magazine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-23
Lyman Abbott and his children will be honored to have dinner with President Roosevelt and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt. Abbott is pleased with all of the initial articles that Roosevelt sent to be published for The Outlook. He advises Roosevelt to allow his article on socialism to be published and that he make his 1910 Romanes Lecture about his trip to Africa. Abbott discusses other articles that Roosevelt wrote, including one that will be published to celebrate Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-07
Edward William Bok encloses an article about President Roosevelt’s kindness to a young boy, which will appear in the Ladies’ Home Journal. Bok hopes that the article does not violate any “ethics of the occasion,” but he feels that the incident was so characteristic of Roosevelt that he could not resist publishing it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-10
George Haven Putnam clarifies a statement he made to the Times about President Roosevelt’s continuance of his series The Winning of the West. It was Putnam’s understanding that Roosevelt would continue the history through the end of the Mexican-American War, and he has several letters from Roosevelt which suggest this. Putnam realizes that Roosevelt has had to put the work on hold while in the office of the presidency, and that he will have a multitude of areas demanding his attention even after leaving office. He hopes nevertheless that Roosevelt will be able to write this volume.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-13
Robert J. Collier would be pleased to have lunch with President Roosevelt on August 1. He hopes to convince Roosevelt to print some future articles in Collier’s. Collier regrets having lost the initial chance, since Roosevelt has committed to Scribner’s, and he is thinking of negotiating directly with Charles Scribner to see if he would be willing to sell some of the articles to Collier’s.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-14
Charles Scribner thanks Robert J. Collier for his comments regarding the articles by President Roosevelt. Scribner is not sure how seriously to take Collier’s offer, and says that even if there were not any practical difficulties in doing what Collier proposed, he would not consider making a profit from a contract with the president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-17
S. S. McClure was disappointed that he was not able to arrange to publish President Roosevelt’s upcoming articles from when he is in Africa, but nevertheless asks for Roosevelt’s advice regarding some of the policies and plans that he has for McClure’s Magazine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-26
George B. Baker compliments a work by Emerson Hough, but says that it isn’t periodically commercial. He says that he thinks the agreement with Victor Freemont Lawson to publish an ad is a good gamble.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06
S. S. McClure modifies his offer to hire President Roosevelt to write journal articles while on his African safari. McClure offers Roosevelt $60,000 for twelve articles, or $100,000 for twenty articles if Roosevelt visited other countries around the world after completing his safari. McClure is also interested in publishing a book by Roosevelt, and would offer royalties of 20% for the first five thousand copies, and 22 1/2% for sales beyond that. McClure says that he needs these articles more than others, and compares the situation to a conversation between General Daniel Edgar Sickles and President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. He would like to talk to Roosevelt in person, if possible.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-01
S. S. McClure tells William Loeb that he has sent H. Rider Haggard with a letter to President Roosevelt offering $6,000 per article for Roosevelt’s African series. Before Roosevelt makes a final decision, McClure would like to visit him personally to make his case. McClure believes that magazines are a better medium for Roosevelt’s articles than newspapers, and says that McClure’s Magazine is both worthy and has a large circulation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-02
S. S. McClure writes again to President Roosevelt to ask about the chance of having Roosevelt write articles for McClure’s Magazine. McClure recently spoke with Albert Shaw, who advised that Roosevelt not decide on the matter for a few days, and mentioned the benefit of having articles printed in a magazine rather than a newspaper.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-02
William Webster Ellsworth, secretary for The Century Company, asks President Roosevelt if Kermit Roosevelt might write articles on his hunting experiences for St. Nicholas magazine. Ellsworth thinks that American youth would be interested in reading about the safari, and believes that this would not interfere with Roosevelt’s own articles.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-06
Benjamin B. Hampton asks President Roosevelt if he would be willing to write a variety of articles, either before or after leaving the presidency. Hampton believes that people view Roosevelt as a practical philosopher, and that a series of short essays from him on such topics as divorce or luxury would be very good. He also proposes longer character sketches of figures in American history that would contribute to a new historical view of the United States. These would be published in Broadway Magazine, which Hampton plans to rename Hampton’s soon. If Roosevelt is willing to undertake this work, they can discuss terms of payment, but Hampton wanted to gauge Roosevelt’s interest first.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-07
Robert J. Collier is disappointed by the news that President Roosevelt has made a decision regarding his African articles before Collier was able to meet with him in person. Collier recalls that he had been one of the first, nearly two years ago, to suggest a trip after Roosevelt leaves the presidency; and he understood that Roosevelt would talk with him before making a decision. He argues that Roosevelt’s articles would reach a greater number of people if Collier’s publishes them than they would if they appear in Scribner’s, and he increases his earlier offer of $50,000 to $100,000 for the rights to publish them serially, with the understanding that Scribner’s would subsequently publish them in book form.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-09
S. S. McClure is disappointed that he was unable to get Roosevelt’s African articles, but he is pleased, if he could not get them, that they will be published in Scribner’s Magazine. He hopes that Roosevelt will eventually agree to write something for McClure’s Magazine, and that he did not annoy Roosevelt in trying to get the African articles.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-09
Charles Scribner is very happy about Robert Bridges’s success in arranging for the articles President Roosevelt writes while in Africa to be published in Scribner’s Magazine. The company will send a formal letter and contract to Roosevelt soon, which will be sufficient unless Roosevelt wants a more defined agreement. Scribner has given the news to his reporters, as he could not keep it secret any longer.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-09
Ray Stannard Baker sends President Roosevelt a copy of a new book that he has written titled Adventures in Contentment. Baker sends Roosevelt the book not because it has any new ideas in it, but because it expresses the joys of simplicity and morality that Roosevelt has expressed himself. He does not want to overburden Roosevelt’s schedule, but after their recent conversation, Baker thought Roosevelt might enjoy looking at the book.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-20
Caspar Whitney thinks that President Roosevelt, in causing William H. Taft to be the Republican candidate for president, has done a great service to the United States. Whitney asks if Roosevelt is really going to be going on safari in Africa, and if there is any chance that he can write anything for Outing. He suggests the possibility of publishing articles in Outing and then having Scribner’s publish the book, instead of having Scribner’s do both. Whitney has also been planning a trip to Africa in the near future. He also updates an opinion of a writer he had previously given.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-22