Life and Letters of Dolly Madison

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A handsome and substantial volume bound in pebbled black leather and stamped brightly in gold with gold border rules, decorations and a gilded silhouette of Dolly Madison on the front boards. With gilded title and silhouette also on the spine which is rubbed and frayed at the top and bottom ends. Corners worn. A solid volume nearly 3" thick, 7" wide x 9 3/4" tall with a total of 517 pages. Edge-rubbing along the rear boards and along the spine. Top edges gilded. Illustrated with 45 full-page plates, mostly photographs and some paintings. With a frontispiece of Dolly Madison by Stuart Gilbert. A wonderful resource of the life of this famous First Lady, wife of James Madison, noted for her social graces and for saving the Stuart Gilbert Portrait of George Washington when the British set fire to the White House in 1814. Dolley Payne Todd Madison(1768 1849) was the wife of James Madison, President of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was noted for her social graces, which boosted her husband s popularity as President. In this way, she did much to define the role of the President s spouse, known only much later by the title First Lady a function she had sometimes performed earlier for the widowed Thomas Jefferson.Dolley Madison worked with the architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe to furnish the White House, the first official residence built for the president of the United States. She sometimes served as widower Jefferson's hostess for official ceremonial functions.In the approach to the 1808 presidential election, with Thomas Jefferson ready to retire, the Democratic-Republican caucus nominated James Madison to succeed him. He was elected President, serving two terms from 1809 to 1817, and Dolley became the official First Lady. She was renowned for her social graces and hospitality, and contributed to her husband's popularity as president. She was the only First Lady given an honorary seat on the floor of Congress, and the first First Lady (and first American) to respond to a telegraph message. In 1812, Madison was re-elected. This was the year that the War of 1812 began with Great Britain. When the British set fire to it in 1814, she was credited with saving the classic portrait of George Washington. In widowhood, she often lived in poverty, partially relieved by the sale of her late husband s papers. (Wikipedia) First Edition with matching dates of 1914 on the title and copyright pages. Seller Inventory # 649

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