An American Classic, Inscribed
The Rough Riders.
Roosevelt, Theodore.
Philadelphia: Gebbie and Company, 1903.
Price:
$12,500.00
About the item
Uniform Edition. Inscribed and Signed on the front endpaper. Etched frontispiece portrait of Roosevelt in three states by W.H.W Bicknell (the first signed in pencil) and three plates each in three states by H.L.V. Parkhurst and M.E. Riddick. ix, [1], 294pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Contemporary full tan morocco, spine gilt with raised bands. Provenance: Malcolm S. Forbes, Jr. (Christies New York, March 27, 2002, lot 142). Cole and Vail A18 (not noting this edition).
Item #378171
Roosevelt’s classic account of the Spanish American War. Presentation copy, inscribed on the endpaper: "Dear Sager, In this book I tell how I tried to practice what I preached. Yours Theodore Roosevelt Feb 17th 1917."
Roosevelt recruited and commanded the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry in 1898, and the flamboyant unit, popularly dubbed the Rough Riders served in Cuba. An especially bold charge up Kettle Hill, near San Juan Hill, received widespread press coverage, and made Roosevelt a national figure.
In 1898, Roosevelt "began to dictate his war memoirs, inevitably called The Rough Riders. At $1,000 per serial installment ... the work was the most profitable he had ever undertaken" (Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, New York, 2001, p.722). Issued serially in Scribner's Magazine, the first book edition was first published by Trow Directory Printing in May 1899 in an edition of 5000 copies, with two additional printings quickly following.
The present later edition is from a 22-volume 1902-1903 edition of all of Roosevelt's works to that date, the first collected edition of his writings. The edition consisted of 1310 copies, with 60 not for sale. However, only 250 sets were sold with the remainder sold unbound to Charles Scribner's Sons, who issued a new title and marketed the set as the Elkhorn edition. Copies with the original Gebbie imprint are rare.
