[ROOSEVELT, Franklin D.] Log of the Cruise of President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard the Schooner Yacht Sewanna to Maine, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. 14 July 1936-28 July 1936. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1937].
[ROOSEVELT, Franklin D.] Log of the Cruise of President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard the Schooner Yacht Sewanna to Maine, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. 14 July 1936-28 July 1936. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1937].

Details
[ROOSEVELT, Franklin D.] Log of the Cruise of President Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard the Schooner Yacht Sewanna to Maine, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. 14 July 1936-28 July 1936. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1937].

8vo. Mounted photographic frontispiece and large folding lithographic chart. (Frontispiece slightly creased.) Original blue cloth, front cover with the design of an anchor stamped in gilt.

FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY THE PRESIDENT TO HIS SON AND FELLOW CREW MEMBER on the front free endpaper: "For John A. Roosevelt from his affectionate father Franklin D. Roosevelt." The President's cruise lasted two weeks, from 14 July to 28 July 1936. Joining the President were his three sons John, James and Franklin, Jr. Among the many activities enjoyed during the cruise was a visit by Mrs. Charles Dana Gibson. Also came the news, delivered by telegram, of the birth of FDR's grandson, Elliott, Jr.

Authorship of this log, along with the other 8 pre-war logs of presidential cruise-vacations, has not been established, but according to Halter's bibliography, "it is probable that they were the work of several members of each cruise. As far as I had been able to check before this book went to press, a total of 17 logs were issued from 1934-1945." The wartime logs are all but unobtainable, given the severity of their print runs and their confidential content. The pre-war log books, however, are no less scarce, with none recorded at auction, and only a very few offered privately in the last 50 years, the majority unsigned and uninscribed. See Halter pp. 190-92 ("Privately printed, not at government expense. No copies were for sale.")

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