Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849

President Roosevelt would prefer his books to be bound in pig skin rather than cloth, but tells John T. Loomis to prioritize weight over everything else. He asks Loomis to find a better set of selections from Edgar Allan Poe, as he does not care for the notes, introduction, and pictures. He also returns other books for Loomis to bind, including three Shakespeare volumes. He asks Loomis to let him know the total weight.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-24

President Roosevelt instructs John T. Loomis to remove some books and substitute some others in the collection of works that he plans to bring with him on his African safari. Roosevelt would like all the books to be bound in pigskin, to better protect them on the journey.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-26

President Roosevelt updates his daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth on some of the recent events that have happened at Oyster Bay, including a visit from Secretary of War William H. Taft and a humorous comment Quentin Roosevelt made about his legs getting sunburnt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-29

President Roosevelt wishes Charles M. Graves well in his mission to establish a monument for Edgar Allen Poe. Roosevelt calls Poe “among the three or four greatest” literary geniuses that America has ever produced.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-06

H. C. G. Moule, the Bishop of Durham, writes to a “Miss Lawton” thanking her for a poetry book. Moule particularly enjoyed the essay on Edgar Allan Poe. He discloses his excitement at serving as the “right-hand supporter” to George V at his upcoming coronation. Moule closes by praising the new king and queen of England. 

 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

John T. Loomis sends one of the best selected editions of Edgar Allan Poe’s tales for President Roosevelt to examine. He discusses the different volumes and selections of other books that Roosevelt might want. The total weight of the books as they currently are is roughly 55 and a half pounds. Loomis hopes to reduce this weight by trimming the edges of some volumes. He asks Roosevelt which he should trim, and whether he wants all the books bound in pigskin.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-25

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from January 1871 to December 1878. Notable events include the Roosevelt family’s trip to Europe and Egypt, Roosevelt’s entrance to Harvard, the death of Theodore “Thee” Roosevelt, Roosevelt’s trip to Maine, and Roosevelt meeting Alice Hathaway Lee.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

Wallace Finley Dailey presents an exhibit, “Roosevelt Reading: The Pigskin Library, 1909-1910,” that opened at Harvard University in September 2003. Dailey provides an introduction to the exhibit which consists of photographs, excerpts of letters, and illustrations of the numerous pigskin bound volumes that Theodore Roosevelt took with him on his African safari. The exhibit is divided into three parts: “Classics and the Continent,” History and Romance,” and “Americans.” Many of the book illustrations have captions taken from letters or articles written by Roosevelt that comment on the book and its author. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2013

Three quotations from Theodore Roosevelt about books and reading.

An advertisement for the Roosevelt Savings Bank of Garden City, New York, listing its various branch offices follows the quotations.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

In his article for Ladies’ Home Journal, Theodore Roosevelt describes the benefits of reading and provides advice on how to get people of any age interested in reading “serious literature.” Roosevelt elaborates on his reading habits and book selection processes, which stem from both his current mood and educational desires.

Collection

Marple Collection

Creation Date

1915-04

A man labeled “Consumer,” tied to a bed with cords labeled “Graft Tariff,” watches as a pendulum labeled “Cost of Living” with a sharp blade affixed to the bottom swings over his body, coming closer to cutting him in half. Caption: “The pit and the pendulum,” by Edgar Allan Poe, tells of a victim of the Spanish Inquisition doomed to watch a knife-like pendulum that swung nearer and nearer to his heart.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The father of cartoonist Udo J. Keppler (Joseph Keppler, founder of Puck) borrowed from a memorable work of Edgar Allan Poe in 1889 — The Raven. In that famous cartoonist, a diminutive President Benjamin Harrison shrank at his desk in a darkened office as the ominous “raven,” his political rival James Gillespie Blaine, hovered overhead, uttering “Nevermore” about Harrison’s chances of renomination.

President Taft sits at a desk, working late, frightened, his hair standing on end, as a raven labeled “Teddy,” with the face of Theodore Roosevelt, perches on a bust opposite and cries “Nevermore.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1912-01-24

John A. Joyce believes that Vice President Roosevelt can be the next President if he controls the southern delegates. The brief note is written on an advertisement for Joyce’s biography of Edgar Allen Poe.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901