(PRESIDENTS 1885) Archive of letters to Rose Cleveland as F

Sale 2324 - Lot 288

Price Realized: $ 750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 700 - $ 1,000

(PRESIDENTS--1885.) Archive of letters to Rose Cleveland as First Lady. 71 items: 64 letters to Rose Cleveland, one retained draft by her, one manuscript essay by her titled "A Halting Amen," one "Executive Mansion" calling card signed by Grover Cleveland, and 4 related printed items; various sizes and conditions. Vp, bulk 1885-1886

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Rose Elizabeth Cleveland (1846-1918) was the sister of President Grover Cleveland. She served as his unofficial First Lady from his 1885 inauguration until he married in June 1886. She was also an author and educator, and served briefly (while in the White House) as editor of the Chicago journal Literary Life. Almost all of the letters in this collection date from her term as First Lady, addressed by senators and other officials, writers and poets sending copies of their work, prominent citizens offering services, and ordinary citizens asking favors or audiences. Opera singer Emma Abbott offers to perform "Auld Lang Syne" at the White House; actress and lecturer Kate Field writes to support the president's persecution of Mormon polygamy; artist Eastman Johnson wants to show the president his recently completed portrait; and Elizabeth Peabody wrote twice in support of Paiute activist Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins. Two unrelated women wrote to request the donation of one of the First Lady's old dresses. One letter dated 1887 is from President Cleveland to his sister, but the signature has been excised. A complete list is available upon request.