Full set of his Public Papers and Addresses. Comprising: i) Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Forty-Eighth Governor of the State of New York. 1929; 1930; 1931; 1932. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, Printers, 1930; 1931; 1937; 1939. ii) The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. With a special introduction and explanatory notes by President Roosevelt. Volume One: The Genesis of the New Deal 1928-1932; Volume Two: The Year of Crisis 1933; Volume Three: The Advance of Recovery and Reform 1934; Volume Four: The Court Disapproves 1935; Volume Five: The People Approve, 1936. New York: Random House, 1938. iii) The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. With a special introduction and explanatory notes by President R

ROOSEVELT, Franklin D.

Published by 1930-50

About this Item

First editions, first printings, signed by Roosevelt on the front free endpaper of the first volume of the Presidential series, a very rare complete set of the official publication of Roosevelt's papers in the deluxe leather bindings (save for the Governor volumes, which were solely issued in this leather-grain cloth binding), and including an original prospectus. A mammoth undertaking, published by four different publishers over 20 years, the set includes every document of major interest and every significant address issued and given by Roosevelt since 1928, from his years as Governor of New York throughout his four Presidencies. "When the history of the second quarter of the twentieth century in American life comes to be written, it is probable that the story will revolve around the personality, activities and pronouncements of one man; and it is absolutely certain that historians will turn for the primary sources of their study to the volumes containing that man's official and some of his unofficial utterances during that period" (prospectus). Together the volumes document, more comprehensively than any other publication, the Roosevelt years from his Governorship to his death in the midst of war. Roosevelt was closely engaged with the project and contributed introductions and notes. As a result, it has been called "one of the most interesting, authoritative, and historically valuable works of its kind ever published. [Roosevelt's] copious notes explain in many instances the purpose behind his words and the eventual objectives to be obtained, followed by a very human analysis of what actually happened. These illuminating comments bind the material into an integrated whole that becomes, in effect, a running history of the Roosevelt administration by FDR himself" (Halter, p. 133). The Governorship volumes were only published in the present leather-grain cloth binding. The Presidential volumes were published in both cloth, and these deluxe issues in leather. Roosevelt took a keen interest in the presentation and design of the books the book designer Joseph Blumenthal, who collaborated on the project, recalled "Mr. Roosevelt was a book collector, a press book buyer and a member of the Grolier Club (from 1934 until his death). He was, therefore, more than ordinarily concerned with the physical appearance of this, his monument in print" (Blumenthal, p. 33). The number of possible sets with the deluxe issue throughout is very low: 500 copies of the first five Presidential volumes were issued in leather, but this was reduced to 100 for the subsequent four; for the final four the number in leather is not recorded but is likely to be much smaller than this. As they were issued over so long a period, not all purchasers of the final volumes would have owned the earlier. We could not trace any full set in leather in commerce, nor know of any other. For the set to additionally be signed by Roosevelt is superb. The J. B. Lyon volumes, covering his years as Governor, 1929-32 The publisher J. B. Lyon Company published the first four volumes of the set, with the papers and addresses of Roosevelt's years as Governor, issuing them in 1930, 1932, 1937, and 1939 (the last after Random House had issued their edition of Presidential papers and addresses). They only issued them in the present red leather-grain cloth, unlike the subsequent Presidential papers and addresses volumes, which all had both standard cloth issues and the present deluxe issue in leather. Halter comments on the significance of these volumes, and of the Governor years for Roosevelt: "Much of what appears in these volumes indicates a social philosophy and course of action similar to that carried on by the Federal Government after FDR became President. The careful reader of these gubernatorial papers will realize that the 'New Deal' in Washington was not completely new" (Halter, pp. 96-97). The Random House volumes, covering his pre-Presidential years 1928-32, and first term as.

Seller Inventory # 190249

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Full set of his Public Papers and Addresses. Comprising: i) Public Papers of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Forty-Eighth Governor of the State of New York. 1929; 1930; 1931; 1932. Albany: J. B. Lyon Company, Printers, 1930; 1931; 1937; 1939. ii) The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt. With a special introduction and explanatory notes by President Roosevelt. Volume One: The Genesis of the New Deal 1928-1932; Volume Two: The Year of Crisis 1933; Volume Three: The Advance of Recovery and...
• Publisher: 1930-50
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)