1909 AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT\'S FIRST LADY EDITH ROOSEVELT
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1909 AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT\'S FIRST LADY EDITH ROOSEVELT:
$110.50
Very rare and original, October 3rd, 1909 6 page, Autograph Letter Signed (ALS) from First Lady Edith Kermit Roosevelt - wife of President Theodore Roosevelt - written to the President\'s Personal Physician Rear Admiral Dr. Presley Rixey. This Letter, written at a time when President Teddy Roosevelt was on Safari in Africa as part of the Smithsonian–Roosevelt African Expedition collecting specimens for the Smithsonian’s new Natural History Museum now known as the National Museum of natural History.
This fascinating, Hand Written Letter is written on a 4 page, folding lettersheet (plus an additional single sheet )that measures approx. 5 1/2\" by 7 1/2\". The front page of the folded stationary has raised, green colored printed text at the top that reads \"Hotel Villa Regina / Lido-Venise\" - the Italian Hotel where Mrs. Roosevelt was staying during part of her extended trip to Europe while Theodore and there son Kermit hunted in Africa. The Letter is dated only \"Oct. 3rd\" with no year stated but in the letter Mrs. Roosevelt mentions Kermit and her husband being on Safari thus dating the letter to 1909
In October 1909 Theodore Roosevelt and his son Kermit were part of the Smithsonian–Roosevelt African Expedition to Africa led by Theodore Roosevelt and outfitted by the Smithsonian Institution.Its purpose was to collect specimens for the Smithsonian\'s new Natural History museum, now known as the National Museum of Natural History. The expedition collected around 11,400 animal specimens which took Smithsonian naturalists eight years to catalog. The group, led by the legendary hunter-tracker R. J. Cunninghame, included scientists from the Smithsonian and was joined from time to time by Frederick Selous, the famous big game hunter and explorer. Among other items, Roosevelt brought with him four tons of salt for preserving animal hides, a lucky rabbit\'s foot given to him by boxer John L. Sullivan, a Holland & Holland double rifle in .500/450 donated by a group of 56 admiring Britons, a Winchester 1895 rifle in .405 Winchester, an Army (M1903) Springfield in .30-06 caliber stocked and sighted for him, a Fox No. 12 shotgun, and the famous Pigskin Library, a collection of classics bound in pig leather and transported in a single reinforced trunk. Participants on the Expedition included Roosevelt\'s son, Kermit, Edgar Alexander Mearns, Edmund Heller, and John Alden Loring
Roosevelt and his companions killed or trapped approximately 11,397 animals. According to Theodore Roosevelt’s own tally, the figure included about four thousand birds, two thousand reptiles and amphibians, five hundred fish, and 4,897 mammals (other sources put this figure at 5,103). Add to this marine, land and freshwater shells, crabs, beetles and other invertebrates, not to mention several thousand plants, and the number of natural history specimens totals 23,151. A separate collection was made of ethnographic objects. The material took eight years to catalogue. The larger animals shot by Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt are listed on pages 457 to 459 of his book African Game Trails. The total is 512, of which 43 are birds. The number of big game animals killed, was 17 lion, 3 leopard, 7 cheetah, 9 hyena, 11 elephant, 10 buffalo, 11 (now very rare) black rhino and 9 White rhino. Most of the 469 larger non big game mammals included 37 species and subspecies of antelopes. The expedition consumed 262 of the animals which were required to provide fresh meat for the large number of porters employed to service the expedition. Tons of salted animals and their skins were shipped to Washington, D.C.; the quantity took years to mount them all, and the Smithsonian shared many duplicate animals with other museums. Regarding the large number of animals taken, Roosevelt said, \"I can be condemned only if the existence of the National Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and all similar zoological institutions are to be condemned.\" In assessing whether the toll of animals was excessive it should be noted that the animals taken spanned a period of ten months, and were procured over an area that ranged from Mombasa through Kenya, to Uganda and the Southern Sudan, a distance travelled, with side trips, of several thousand kilometres. The diversity of larger mammal species collected was such that few individuals of any species were shot in any given area, and the large mammals collected had a negligible impact on the great herds of game that roamed East Africa at that time. Apologists for the Roosevelts have pointed out that the number of each big game species shot was very modest by the standards of the time: many white hunters of that period, for example, such as Karamoja Bell, had killed over 1,000 elephants each, while the Roosevelts between them killed just eleven. In making this comparison it has to be remembered that the white hunters weren’t collecting specimens for museums, but were employed by landowners to clear animals from land they wanted to use for plantations.
Although the safari was conducted in the name of science, it was as much a political and social event as it was a hunting excursion; Roosevelt interacted with renowned professional hunters and land-owning families, and met many native peoples and local leaders. Roosevelt became a Life Member of the National Rifle Association, while President, in 1907 after paying a $25 fee. He later wrote a detailed account in the book African Game Trails, where he describes the excitement of the chase, the people he met, and the flora and fauna he collected in the name of science
The Letter is entirely in the hand of Edith Roosevelt and reads:
\"Dear Dr. Rixey:-
The photographs of you and the farm made me very homesick and I thought of all the happy hours I have spent there - our nice rides. Do you remember once when we all rode from one farm to another and dear Mrs. Rixey said \"Husband\" in a very small frightened voice when we got into a horrid marsh in the woods! When the little boys sailed it was very hard for Ethel or myself to stay behind, but I don\'t know that I shall ever have the chance to show her Italy again, and we certainly have made the most of this one.
Our month in Paris was delightfully comfortable in such a pretty apartment with good servants, + a cook who pleased the children immensely. I had no time to shop, which is perhaps fortunate, for who knows what Mr. Lock might do to me, but we went to galleries + cathedrals, chateaux + museums from morning until night + saw everything that there was to be seen in and around Paris, and I hope I have taught the boys as much French History as they could have learned in a two years course at home - after they left, Ethel + I joined my sister in Switzerland and passed a week in the mountains, then came here to this wonderful city so full of historical and artistic interest. The hotels were crowded + not very attractive so we came here, a few minutes in a little steamboat. I am sure that it was a good arrangement for the air is much purer than in Venice itself. Tomorrow we leave for Padua, Le----, Porte Maurizio, Florence, Rome, + sail from Naples on November 12th, a very happy date for us both.
I shall be settled in Sagamore after the middle of December, and I hope your Mrs. Rixey will come out to see me.
All my letters from Africa are satisfactory and now Mr. Roosevelt writes that there is only the White Rhinosceros which he wishes to shoot. He has been perfectly well and Kermit writes that he looks ten years younger. As for Kermit, a man who had been with the expedition came to see me in Paris + told me he was the wonder of East Africa for toughness and endurance.
I can\'t bear to think of all the anxiety my dear Belle Hagner has had to bear this summer and there is actually no way for me to help her except by writing her what ever may amuse + interest her for the moment. Some of my most interesting letters are from my farmer at Sagamore who keeps me informed about the crops and the weather, the animals and the house - Ethel\'s dog was lost for a long time, but a cable told us that he has been found. There was great rejoicing. I had to have the library re-papered - after twenty five years, + I shall be busy when I get home preparing all for the return of the Master.
Best love to dear Mrs. Rixey
Sincerely yours,
Edith Kermit Roosevelt\"
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt (August 6, 1861 – September 30, 1948) was the second wife of President Theodore Roosevelt and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1901 to 1909.
After William McKinley\'s assassination, she assumed her new duties as First Lady with characteristic dignity. She meant to guard the privacy of a family that attracted everyone\'s interest, and she tried to keep reporters outside her domain. The public, in consequence, heard little of the vigor of her character, her sound judgment, her efficient household management. As First Lady, her first \"symbolic\" activity was to throw open the windows to let in sunlight and fresh air while dissipating the \"dark, musty\" atmosphere. She rearranged the furniture after this as well, but a few days later, when the White House was \"partly settled,\" Edith collapsed into a \"heavy sleep\" for 48 hours. She converted the traditional weekly levees to musicales, remodeled the White House at a cost of $475,000 into what the president described as \"a simple and dignified dwelling for the head of a republic.\" During the president\'s administration, the White House was unmistakably the social center of the land. Beyond the formal occasions, smaller parties brought together distinguished men and women from varied walks of life. Three family events were highlights: the debut of her stepdaughter Alice Lee Roosevelt in 1902, the wedding of \"Princess Alice\" to Nicholas Longworth in 1907, and daughter Ethel\'s debut. A perceptive aide described the First Lady as \"always the gentle, high-bred hostess; smiling often at what went on about her, yet never critical of the ignorant and tolerant always of the little insincerities of political life.\"Click Here to Read More about the Amazing Life and Public Service of Edith Kermit Roosevelt.
This rare and wonderful, Autograph Letter Signed by Edith Kermit Roosevelt is in excellent condition. There is a horizontal crease as sent through the mail but otherwise the Letter is clean and crisp and exceptionally well preserved. The hand writing is dark and bold as is the signature of Edith Roosevelt. Overall the Letter is well preserved and will display nicely.
The signature of Edith Kermit Roosevelt and the manuscript of the Letter are unconditionally guaranteed authentic and original and the Signature and text are unconditionally guaranteed to be in the hand of Edith Roosevelt. The Letter and Signature are backed by our “no questions asked” return policy and lifetime guarantee of authenticity. The Signature and Letter are unconditionally guaranteed to be deemed authentic by any third party authentication service.
A very rare and original, 1909 Autograph Letter Signed (ALS) hand written by First Lady Edith Kermit Roosevelt - wife of President Theodore Roosevelt - and a fantastic addition to any collection!!
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1909 AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT\'S FIRST LADY EDITH ROOSEVELT:
$110.50