“my great mass of papers”
TRANSCRIPT
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By the People crowdsourcing
campaign:
“My great mass of papers”:
Correspondence of
Theodore Roosevelt
Series 2: Letterpress Copybooks,
1897-1916
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This is my favorite illustration
of Theodore Roosevelt because
it captures the TR’s whirlwind
of activity and interests, which
are reflected in his papers
Puck, July 11, 1906LC-DIG-ppmsca-26075
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2011645917/
The title of the cartoon is
VACATION
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“Mrs. Roosevelt and I have been
talking over the disposition of my
great mass of papers. They include, in
immense numbers, copies of my letters
and of letters to me while I was
President, also letters from
Sovereigns, etc., etc. They ought to be
in the Congressional Library.”
Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert Putnam,
Librarian of Congress, December 5, 1916
Letterpress copy, series 3A, Theodore Roosevelt Papers
How did the papers get to the Library of Congress?
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Letterpress copies and copybooks: What are they??
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Example of a letterpress copy book from the E. B. Washburne Papers
Reverse side of the
page comes in direct
contact with ink on the
original document, as
it is pressed directly
against page.
This is why the back
side of letterpress has
the stronger
impression.
When the reverse is
available, sometimes
digitally flipping it
will make the text
easier to read.
The letterpress paper
has to be so tissue
paper thin that the
transferred ink can be
read through the paper
itself.
The pages in this book
were scanned with
white paper backings
to isolate the text and
make it easier to read.
Without the backings,
you’d also see the
impressions of the
pages behind them.
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Let
terp
ress
copy,
Theo
dore
Roose
velt
Paper
s
First known use of “speak softly and
carry a big stick”
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“As I lead, to put it mildly, a sedentary life for
the moment I would greatly like some books that
would appeal to my queer taste. I do not suppose
there are any histories or any articles upon the
early Mediterranean races. That man Lindsay
who wrote about pre-historic Greece has not put
our a second volume, has he? Has a second
volume of Oman’s Art of War appeared? If so,
send me either or both; if not, then a good
translation of Niebuhr and Monsen, or the best
modern history of Mesopotamia. Is there a good
history of Poland?”
President Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert Putnam,
Librarian of Congress, October 6, 1902
Letterpress copy, vol. 36, p. 341, Series 2, TR Papers
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Let
terp
ress
co
py,
vo
l. 3
6, p
. 34
1, S
erie
s 2
, TR
Pa
per
s
Original letter, Library of Congress Archives
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Her
ber
t P
utn
am
Paper
s
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Same letter in letterpress format in Series 2 of the TR Papers
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Zedan Bradshaw to TR, June 5, 1901, Series 1 TR to Zedan Bradshaw, June 16, 1901, letterpress copy, Series 2
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Easy access to name indexes and finding aid on the “About this Collection” page for the Theodore Roosevelt Papers
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Check the index for Bradshaw, Z… Then check the finding aid for volume 29 in Series 2
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Combination of typed text and
handwritten additions
Ink that has smeared and bled during
the letterpress process
Example of TR’s use of
simplified spelling:
“thoroly washt”
TR to son Ted, November 27, 1908, letterpress copy,
volume 88, p. 202, Series 2
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Vice President-Elect Theodore Roosevelt to Edward S. Martin,
November 22, 1900 on the children’s names for the family pets,
including a bear named Jonathan Edwards, “partly because they
thought they detected Calvinistic traits in the bear’s character.”
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THANK YOU for participating
in the crowdsourcing of
transcriptions in the Theodore
Roosevelt Papers!
The work you do today will help
scholars, students, and the
interested public for years to come!