The Library doesn’t just hold words written by American Presidents, it also holds some of the words that they once read themselves! This Presidents’ day we invite you to learn about two items that were once owned by Presidents’ and their families.
Thomas Jefferson’s Sammelband of Medical Literature
Thomas Jefferson was a voracious reader, his personal collection was so vast that it actually served as the basis of the Library of Congress! One of his favorite places to read was bed, he once remarked, "I never go to bed without an hour, or half hour’s previous reading of something moral, whereon to ruminate in the intervals of sleep." We can’t be sure whether or not he read this particular volume in bed but we know that he enjoyed all of these works so much he had them bound all together as one book!
This sammelband, which is a word for a book comprising a number of works bound together, contains several pamphlets and a single periodical extract all on medical subjects. Many of the volumes have brief, fond inscriptions from the author to Jefferson. Jefferson also made notes of his own, adding handwritten typographical and grammatical emendations to the pages. The titles range in topic from a history of influenza, to “The Tranquillizer” which was a chair to designed to restrain mental patients, to the study of the function of the omentum, which is a fold of the peritoneum connecting the stomach with other abdominal organs.
George and Martha Washington’s Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands
George and Martha Washington owned a copy of mid-18th century volume of Mark Catesby’s The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Catesby was an English Naturalist who was sent by the Royal Society to collect seeds and other botanical specimens in Carolina. He travelled far and wide in the new world, collecting both plants and animals. It took him seventeen years to prepare his Natural History, which was the first natural history book to use color folio-sized plates that he etched himself.
The book came to George and Martha Washington through the Custis Family. It was originally owned by John Custis of Williamsburg who was a politician and a member of the Virginia Governor’s Council. He was an avid gardener and nature lover and kept up correspondence with naturalists of the day, including Mark Catesby who stayed with the Custis family briefly while doing his field work. His son, Daniel Parke Custis was Martha Washington’s first husband. They were married from 1750 until his death in 1757, most likely of a heart attack. The Catesby Natural History stayed with Martha as she ventured into her second marriage.
You can learn more about these incredible books in our exhibition Treasures of Lauinger Library: An Exhibition for the Millennium.