Description:

Caroline Fillmore
Albany, NY, ca. 1844-1857
Caroline Fillmore Signed Pair of Personally Owned Books
Signed books
A lovely pair of books personally owned by Caroline C. Fillmore, second wife of 13th U.S. President Millard Fillmore (1800-1874). Comprises:

1.) Doctor Antonio, A Tale of Italy, by Ruffini. Signed and dated by Caroline Fillmore as "Mrs. C.C. McIntosh / April 23, 1857" on the front flyleaf. First American Edition. New York: Rudd & Carleton, 1857. Deaccessioned from the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Library, the institution founded by Millard and Abigail Fillmore. 430pp, 5.25" x 7.5". Brown cloth boards with gilt titling on spine and moss green endpapers. Fading, scuffing, edge and corner wear to the covers. Fraying at head and tail of spine. Tear with loss to rear flyleaf. Minor cracking at rear endpaper. Inner pages toned, but clean. In very good condition.

Giovanni Ruffini (1807-1881) was an Italian patriot who wrote Doctor Antonio specifically to win over British support for Italian unification. The novel tells the story of a revolutionary battling against the rule of Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies who meets and falls in love with the daughter of an English aristocrat. He eventually is compelled to give her up and return to fight and die for the cause of Italian unification.

2.) The Magnolia. A literary chapbook of poetry and short stories, signed and dated by Caroline Fillmore as "Caroline C McIntosh / Albany. 1844." on the half title page facing a frontispiece entitled "The White Plume." New York: Robert P. Bixby & Company, [1844]. Edited by Henry W. Herbert. Deaccessioned from the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Library, the institution founded by Millard and Abigail Fillmore. 300pp, 4.625" x 7.625". Burgundy Morocco leather boards gilt embossed with exquisite geometric and foliate patterns, and with a large, stylized magnolia blossom found at the center of each cover. Also ornamented with a gilt text block. With intact but weakened binding, and missing the spine cover. Expected scuffing, soiling, edge and corner wear to the covers. Inner pages clean with isolated toning and foxing. In good plus condition.

The Magnolia was an attempt to foster intellectualism in the fledgling nation by featuring exclusively the work of American writers, poets, and artists. The advertisement located in the beginning of the book explained its philosophy: "The engravings are, and will continue to be, executed entirely from American paintings, and by domestic artists - while no compositions, however excellent, will be admitted, which are not produced by writers, natives or residents of the United States…the MAGNOLIA is committed to that atmosphere, which may doom it to be blighted by the frost of the first winter; but which will, it is hoped, permit it to bloom again, and with a beauty more mature…" The volume contains over thirty poems and short stories and eight engraved illustrations. A perusal of the Table of Contents reveals a variety of subject matters, yet works emblematic of the uniquely American experience would have best provided fodder to the editor's nationalist scheme.

Caroline Carmichael McIntosh Fillmore (1813-1881) was the second wife of 13th U.S. President Millard Fillmore. Her first husband was Ezekiel C. McIntosh (1806-1855), a prosperous New York merchant who, upon his death, left Caroline a very wealthy widow. She married Fillmore in 1858, five years after he had left office. They are believed to have had a happy marriage, but Caroline's mental and physical health began to decline in the 1860s, and Millard Fillmore's sudden death in 1874 only aggravated her condition - making her more eccentric, and temperamental.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: largest: 5.25" x 7.5"
  • Medium: Signed books

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