Description:

James Garfield
[Washington, DC], November 8, 1879
From President Garfield's Library, a Bound Copy of the Annual Report on U.S. Foreign Commerce Issued November, 1879
Pamphlet/Booklet

Pamphlet: Annual Report of the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics on the Foreign Commerce of the United States for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1879, released November 8, 1879. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1879. Soft cover, 5.75" x 9", 44pp plus an intact fold-out chart, 24.75" x 13.25", titled, "Chart / Exhibiting The Value Of The Commerce Of The United States With Each Foreign Country And Dependency, / During The Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1879." Notations in red on five pages in an unknown hand, possibly Garfield's. Good condition with foxing, light soiling and edge wear to covers. Small section of worming to lower corner of front cover. Written in manuscript on front cover, "Hon James A. Garfield". Interior fine.

Joseph Nimmo, Jr. was a statistician and a longtime employee of the United States government, working on various trade and commerce projects. He eventually established a firm on Long Island specializing in statistical studies of American commercial activities and was active in Interstate Commission politics from the agency's inception under the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. This book of facts and figures would have held great interest to Garfield. In a speech he delivered to the House of Representatives in 1869 regarding census information, Garfield declared, "The developments of statistics are causing history to be rewritten. Till recently, the historian studied nations in the aggregate, and gave us only the story of princes, dynasties, sieges, and battles…Now statistical inquiry leads him into the hovels, homes, workshops, mines, fields…and all other places where human nature displays its weakness and its strength. In these explorations he discovers the seeds of national growth and decay, and thus becomes the prophet of his generation…"

The first Presidential memorial library, completed at the Lawnfield estate in Ohio by the widow of James Garfield four years after his assassination, houses almost 3,000 books that were used and treasured by the 20th president. Books were a scarce commodity to young James, who lost his father before the age of two, and was raised by his mother who struggled to maintain a humble existence. Both James Garfield and his wife Lucretia were voracious readers and amassed a large collection of books. Some twenty years ago, several dozen of his books were deaccessioned, present here is one of these books.

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: 5.75" x 9"
  • Medium: Pamphlet/Booklet

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