Roosevelt Theodore Theodore Roosevelt Manuscript Introduction to E. Wartons "The Book of the Homeless" with Fantastic WWI Content "We owe this assistance for the sake of the good name of America and above all for the sake of humanity."ROOSEVELT WRITES ON BEHALF OF BELGIAN.REFUGEES.Roosevelt, Theodore. Autograph manuscript signed, "Theodore Roosevelt," "Introduction: The Book of the Homeless," October 1, 1915, two leaves of Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y. letterhead, rectos only. Boldly signed by Theodore Roosevelt as "Theodore Roosevelt".Housed in a specially made quarter-morocco slipcase with:The Book of the Homeless (Le Livre des sans-foyer). Edited by Edith Wharton. Original articles in verse and prose. Illustrations reproduced from original paintings and drawings. The book is sold for the benefit of the American Hostels for Refugees (with the Foyer Franco-Belge) and of The Children of Flanders Rescue Committee. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916.Large 8vo.; illustrated; grey-brown paper-covered boards stamped in blue and black, red cloth spine stamped in gilt; lightly rubbed; tips bumped.Housed in a specially made quarter-morocco slipcase with:The Book of the Homeless (Le Livre des sans-foyer). Edited by Edith Wharton. Original articles in verse and prose. Illustrations reproduced from original paintings and drawings. The book is sold for the benefit of the American Hostels for Refugees (with the Foyer Franco-Belge) and of The Children of Flanders Rescue Committee. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1916.4to.; illustrated; grey paper-covered boards, tan cloth spine, both stamped in gilt; spine lightly rubbed.Roosevelt's holograph introduction to The Book of the Homeless, with many variations from the published version; with a first trade edition and an out-of-series copy from the deluxe large paper edition, which was limited to 175 numbered copies: numbers 1-50 were printed on French hand-made paper, with four facsimile manuscripts and a second set of illustrations in portfolio; numbers 51-175 were printed on Van Gelder paper. At the colophon of this copy, "copy number" has been crossed out and the following note added by hand by D. B. Updike of The Merrymount Press: Unnumbered copy for designer of decoration, R. R. [signed" D.B. Updike.The differences between Roosevelt's manuscript and the published version of his introduction range from minor emendations, such as the addition and deletion of punctuation and the alteration of verb tense, to minor word changes (such as "merely" to "only"), and word deletions (words such as "all" and "wholly"), to the reconstruction of sentences through word changes and displacement of clauses. The most substantial change is the deletion of the following underlined words and consequent toning down of nationalistic sentiment; the bracketed words were added: "...even if the neutral nations, and especially the United States, should at last wake up to the [the performance of the] duty they have so shamefully failed to perform and should insist upon Belgium being restored to her own people..."Edith Wharton conceived of The Book of the Homeless to benefit the American Hostels for Refugees (with the Foyer Franco-Belge) and The Children of Flanders Rescue Committee, a committee she formed in Paris in 1914 and expanded in 1915 when the Belgian government asked her to accept responsibility for over 650 children and elderly from the trampled towns and farms of Flanders. The Committee was maintained primarily through the generosity of concerned American citizens, the same people to whom Roosevelt appealed in his introduction to "picture to themselves the plight of these poor creatures and to endeavor in practical fashion to secure that they shall be saved from further avoidable suffering." He had already explained that their fate easily rivaled that of Europe during the Thirty Years' War and the wars that followed, and concludes (in the manuscript version).The part that America has played in this world tragedy has not been an exalted part; and there is all the more reason why Americans should hold up the hands of those of their number who, like Mrs. Wharton, are endeavoring to some extent to remedy the national shortcomings. We owe to Mrs. Wharton all the assistance we can give. We owe this assistance for the sake of the good name of America and above all for the sake of humanity. We owe it to the children, the women and the old men who, without fault on their part, have suffered such dreadful wrong.Wharton martialled a formidable battalion for this anthology. The table of contents, listing contributions by 42 American, French and English writers and musicians and 15 artists, includes nearly all of the period-defining icons: among them are Sarah Bernhardt, Jean Cocteau, Joseph Conrad, Edmond Gosse, Thomas Hardy, William Dean Howells, Henry James, Maurice Maeterlinck, George Satayana, Igor Stravinsky, Edith Wharton, W.B. Yeats, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Auguste Rodin, John Singer Sargent, and, of course, Theodore Roosevelt.Superbly presented, the case alone for this archive is worth over $2,000.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.WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!