[Rarebooks] Original Unpublished Theodore Roosevelt Photographs

[Garry R Austin]

We offer postpaid and net to all @ $1250. 00, the following
(Theodore Roosevelt). A COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL ANNOTATED PHOTOGRAPHS OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT IN ARGENTINA, REVIEWING THE TROOPS AT CAMPO DE MAYO, OCTOBER 12, 1913. Np: Privately printed, (1913). Only Edition. A Collection of Seventeen (17) Original Photographs From Theodore Roosevelt's Review of The Argentinian Troops at Campo de Mayo on October 12, 1913. Each photograph is approx. 3.5" x 5.5" (postcard size) and is annotated on the verso by a member of TR's group. We are confident that these photographs have never been published. We are unable to say who wrote the descriptions. Traveling with the Ex-President was Frank Harper, TR's Secretary. He soon would be taken ill and have to leave the expedition. I do not believe that the writing is in Harper's hand as TR is referred to often as "Ted". That seems a bit too familiar for their relationship. Nor are the annotations in son Kermit's or wife Edith's hand either. They would also not have referred to him as "Ted". Here is a list of the images by number with the annotations quoted; 

1."Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 The mounted band of the Lancers passing the stand" (In a later hand) Review in honor of Teddy Roosevelt" 
2.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Ted after the review, returning from review to enter his carriage" 	
3.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Ted & his reviewing party from the rear" 	
4.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Ted is in the carriage in the center. You can just see his hat. After the review & returning to the RR Station" 	
5.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Ted & his reviewing party" 	
6.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 The reviewing party. Ted alongside man pointing" 	
7.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 The Charge of the Cavalry" 	
8.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Artillery passing the reviewing stand" 	
9.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Exercises of Cavalry for T Roosevelt & Party" 	
10.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Exercises of the Lancers. See the man spearing the dummy on the ground while going full speed"
11.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Troop of Lancers passing reviewing stand" 	
12.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Cavalry grouped, after exercises & singing with the band while returning to quarters. (Honor of Ted)" 	
13.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 T. Roosevelt boarding carriage after the review" 	
14.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Effects of sham battle. Raining all thru the exercises & very gray day. Note how smoke hugs the ground" 	
15.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Troop of Lancers; Artillery to left in the distance" 	
16.	"Campo de Mayo, Arg Nov 1913 Artillery passing the stand" 	
17.	"B. Aires Nov 1913 The "Dirreccion de la Instruccion Publica", (Public Instruction)" T. Very good. Photographs.  [14424]	$1,250.00

Following Theodore Roosevelt's unsuccessful Bull Moose Party run for the Presidency in 1912, the former President wrote his Autobiography and then embarked on his last great adventure in Wilderness. He and son, Kermit, joined a group of Brazilian soldiers commanded by Colonel Candido Rondon, scientists from the American Museum of Natural History, Brazilian naturalists, and common laborers in an expedition to explore the Rio da Duvida, the River of Doubt. A tributary of the Amazon, it flows through a rainforest wilderness where the only residents in 1913 were native Brazilian indians, not particularly friendly to their rival tribes or the Brazilians in general. This trip nearly cost TR his life. It certainly contributed to his early death just five years following, but it provided him as he said, "My last chance to be a boy"! The Rondon-Roosevelt Expedition of 1913-1914 answered the questions about this river, later renamed the Rio Teodoro. This adventure has been wonderfully chronicled by Candace Millard in River of Doubt, Joseph Ornig in My Last Chance To Be A Boy and of course, Theodore Roosevelt in Through The Brazilian Wilderness. Prior to their departure onto the River, before the real business of exploration began, TR was feted wherever he traveled through South America. He visited Buenos Aires, on October 12th, he spoke before an enthusiastic crowd of over 6000 guests at a dinner that evening. Earlier that day, he reviewed the Argentinian Troops at Campo de Mayo just outside the city. Joseph Ornig describes the moment; "The high point of Roosevelt's stay in Buenos Aires came on October 12, when he attended military maneuvers at Campo De Mayo, the big Argentine army training camp outside the capital. Drenching rains and high winds did nothing to lessen T.R.s enthusiasm. Surrounded by a hundred staff officers he was reported to be "as cheery as ever", taking the salute from infantry regiments that marched by singing patriotic songs. The bad weather did not prevent several primitive biplanes from circling overhead, one daring pilot buzzed the reviewing stand, causing everyone – including Roosevelt – to duck. Afterward T.R. stood in the rain and chatted with those soldiers who spoke English, complimenting them on their spirit. At the officers club he presented his hosts with a bust of the American Civil War Gen. Philip Sheridan, a gift of the United States Army officer corps. The sculpture was by a then little-known artist named Gutzon Borglum who 30 years later would carve Roosevelt's face in gigantic scale on a mountainside in South Dakota".

Garry R Austin
mail at austinsbooks.com
Austin's Antiquarian Books
PO Box 730
Wilmington, VT 05363
802 464-8438