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Moby Dick by Herman Melville - Signed by President Franklin D, Roosevelt
Published by London Jonathan Cape 1925, 1925
Seller: James Pepper Rare Books, Inc., ABAA, Santa Barbara, CA, U.S.A.
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Signed
AmericaÕs greatest novel signed by one of our greatest Presidents. This book President Franklin D. Roosevelt has inscribed it on the front blank as follows: "Junior Debating Society Prize, Groton School, 1942 / David Seall Biddts / from Franklin D. Roosevelt." This copy of Moby Dick, is bound in half brown morocco binding, with the Groton School seal stamped in gold on the front cover. The book is the prize Roosevelt gave and awarded to the winner of that year's debate competition. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was home schooled until the age of 14, after which he attended exclusive preparatory Groton School for grades 8 to 12, on his way to the mandatory 4 years at Harvard University. Roosevelt probably read Melville's great novel at Groton or Harvard, and that it impacted his intellectual life thereafter. FDR had a lifelong interest in the nautical world with collecting of Naval prints and autographs, as well as serving as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. His Delano relations consisted of whalemen, China Traders, opium dealers, and deepwater mariners, including Amasa Delano (protagonist in Melville's Benito Cereno). Obviously, Moby Dick was a book he held in high esteem. According to Heilicher's monograph The Education of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Roosevelt was an active member of the Groton debate team. As president, he continued to support the school and its activities, sponsoring the prize for the annual Junior Debating Society competition. Interestingly, this edition is a scarce 20th century reprint of Moby Dick, not appearing in Tanselle or BAL. The copyright page reads, "The Library Edition of Herman Melville's Works. First published 1925. Printed in USA." Leather binding shows rubbing at joints and corners. Text and inscription clean and fresh. 8vo, 20 cm. xii, 545 pp. b/w plates. Enclosed in a custom clamshell box.
