[FDR's Copy] The Hudson River Guide [with map:] Hudson River & Vicinity. Drawn by David H. Burr.

David H. Burr / John Disturnell / Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Published by David H. Burr / John Disturnell / Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1835

About this Item

From the Library of Franklin D. RooseveltRare first edition of Disturnell's Hudson River Guide, with Franklin D. Roosevelt's dated ownership inscription: Franklin D. Roosevelt, The White House, 1935, and with his notat. 18mo. Contemporary full dark green straight grain sheep, spine neatly rebacked. Corners a bit worn. 16 pages. Engraved frontispiece plate and folding engraved map with hand outline color. Map expertly repaired along verso folds with archival tissue. Signed ownership inscription to front pastedown endpaper: "Franklin D. Roosevelt / The White House / 1935 / Very rare." Small printed label on inside front cover: "Library of Franklin D. Roosevelt. No. 1283," the number written in pen-and-ink. From the Library of Franklin D. RooseveltRare first edition of Disturnell's Hudson River Guide, with Franklin D. Roosevelt's dated ownership inscription: Franklin D. Roosevelt, The White House, 1935, and with his notation very rare. This Hudson River Guide of 1835 is among the earliest of Disturnell's guidebook publications. The engraved frontispiece shows the Battery & Castle Garden at the southern tip of Manhattan. The detailed colored folding map is also dated 1835 (with 1834 copyright). In addition to the present 1835 first edition, OCLC records a 1839 version, and other later editions were likely issued.FDR and Hudson Valley AssociationFranklin D. Roosevelt s ownership of this 1835 Hudson River guide represents an especially resonant association, uniting his antiquarian interests with the landscape at the center of his personal identity. Born at Springwood in Hyde Park, Roosevelt grew up overlooking, sailing, and ice-boating on the river, while his Delano ancestry connected him to the region s maritime and mercantile traditions. The Hudson Valley remained his lifelong refuge and the setting for his conservation work, presidential library, and final resting place. As a collector of Hudson River history, naval art, ship models, and maritime manuscripts, he would have valued the guide both as a rare historical artifact and as a record of the river and surrounding country closest to his heart. His decision to build the nation s first presidential library on the family estate further reveals how closely he connected his public legacy with Hyde Park. He collected manuscripts relating to Dutchess County and Hudson Valley history, preserved Springwood for the American people, and chose to be buried in its rose garden. For Roosevelt, the Hudson Valley represented continuity, family, historical rootedness, and restorative contact with the land a place to which, as he once expressed it, everything within him longed to return.FDR and the White House LibraryThe modern White House Library had its origins in FDR's 1935 installation of his personal library in the White House. Roosevelt formally designated a ground-floor room for that purpose and used it as his personal library. The White House Library did not fully come into its own, however, until Jacqueline Kennedy s restoration of the White House, when a formally curated collection of books was installed. After refurbishing the space, she enlisted James T. Babb, the Yale University Librarian, to lead a committee in preparing an authoritative list of works in American history, literature, and philosophy. The resulting collection, installed in 1963 and eventually numbering more than 2,700 volumes, transformed the room into the representative library of American letters and thought that it remains today.It should be noted that Franklin Roosevelt was a devoted bibliophile and a member of the uber exclusive Boston-based Club of Odd Volumes. It thus makes perfect sense that he would add a rarity note to his ownership inscription in the present Hudson River Guide. The famous rare book dealer A.S.W. Rosenbach had this.

Seller Inventory # 125380

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [FDR's Copy] The Hudson River Guide [with map:] Hudson River & Vicinity. Drawn by David H. Burr.
• Publisher: David H. Burr / John Disturnell / Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• Publication Date: 1835
• Binding: No Binding
• Condition: vg
• Book Type: Map
• Seller catalogs:
  • Antique Maps