Description:

Arthur Chester 1829 - 1886 Chester A. Arthur annotated book: President, and apparent poet, adds a verse to conclude Whittier's poem, "Maud Muller" Autograph Manuscript, accomplished in pencil on page 12 of an illustrated version of John G. Whittier's 1856 poem, Maud Muller (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867), 8vo, 12pages plus illustrations by W. J. Hennessey. Bound in tooled leather boards and gilt titled spine. With an additional pencil notation on the blank front flyleaf by Chester A. Arthur II, who identifies the added manuscript lines as in the hand of his father. Boards and spine heavily rubbed, spine cracked and blank marbled endpaper loose, light soiling to a few pages which bear a crease at the upper right corner.

Arthur, deeply moved by Whitter's poem of a missed opportunity for true love, adds his own spin on the maiden and the judge:

"No, blame them both, & blame us all,

Who give to our hearts, and unworthy thrall!

The unhappy maiden's married life,

The Judge's vow to his cold, proud wife,

Tarnished the sweet hope buried for years,

And quenched dear memories in tears,

And the angel who rolleth the stone away,

Will find but ashes, where once it lay!"

Chester Arthur's son and namesake, writing in pencil on the front flyleaf, identifies the poem as that of his father: "The lines written in pencil on the last page are my father's - Chester A. Arthur. C.A.A. 2nd." A most touching conclusion by Arthur to Whittier's verse.

Perhaps Arthur shared a similar experience. Sadly, soon before his death in 1886, he ordered that most of his personal papers be burned. If there was evidence of a missed opportunity for romance, we will probably never know.

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November 10, 2016 10:30 AM EST
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