Nov 17, 2016 - Sale 2432

Sale 2432 - Lot 292

Price Realized: $ 2,125
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
ROOSEVELT, THEODORE. The Complete Writings of Theodore Roosevelt (spine title). 90 plates. 22 volumes. 8vo, publisher's plain cloth with brown paper spine titles in gilt, labels slightly scuffed, otherwise minimal wear; title pages in red and black, uncut. Philadelphia: Gebbie & Company, 1903
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Additional Details

The first collected edition of Roosevelt's works, spanning his entire writing career and issued only in several quite expensive limited editions ranging from $385 to $3,300. Each volume has its own distinct title page with the header "The Uniform Edition." Included are Winning of the West (6 volumes), Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, Hero Tales from American History, New York, Oliver Cromwell, Wilderness Hunter (2 volumes), Gouverneur Morris, Hunting Trips of a Ranchman (2 volumes), Strenuous Life, Thomas H. Benton, Naval War of 1812 (2 volumes), Rough Riders, and American Ideals (2 volumes).
Each volume in this set also includes a limitation page reading "Publisher's Edition. This copy is presented to ___ with the compliments of the publishers." This set is inscribed to Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. No other copies of the Publisher's Edition have been traced. It may seem odd for one publisher to be giving a specially bound deluxe set to another publisher, but it makes sense given the publishing history of Gebbie's collection. To publish this collected work, he needed to secure rights from five of Roosevelt's other publishers. These publisher's editions--of which we presume only five were made--were apparently issued as a token of appreciation for the permission, or perhaps as a contractual obligation. They are not discussed in an exhaustive study of Gebbie's effort, Jonathan Arnold's "Publishing Theodore Roosevelt," though other editions are delineated on page 126 and the difficulties of wrangling five publishers are discussed on pages 128-130. Provenance: acquired from a descendant of the Houghton family; sold by the late renowned Roosevelt collector Peter Scanlan to the consignor circa 2010.