| Summary: | Michael Laird Rare Books description: original dark gray boards (expertly repaired), etched label mounted on front cover. Eleven leaves, each with etched text or illustration on recto and with tissue guard, comprising colophon, vignette title-page, plate of a dog named "Laddie-Boy, " preface by Wall, brief statement by Harding entitled "My Hobby, " "To Hub" (first page), plate of Harding and a dog on the White House lawn, "To Hub" (second page), plate of a dog entitled "Guard Duty, " "To Hub" (conclusion), [printer's device]. Very good antiquarian condition. Copy # 12 of an edition limited to just 50 copies, signed by the engraver Bernhardt Wall. This may be one of the rarest of all modern dog books. Future President Warren G. Harding herein mourns the death of "Hub," his Boston Terrier, which preceded "Laddie Boy," the first "First Dog" of the United States. Indeed upon Harding's election, in 1921, the new President, First Lady, and First Dog "Laddie Boy" were warmly embraced by the public. There can be no doubt that the Hardings were the first presidential couple to appreciate the extent to which sharing the White House spotlight with a dog could help to satisfy the demands that the American press imposed on the First Family, enhance a President's image, and foster animal welfare. Harding not only imbibed these pro-dog and pro-animal sentiments but also expressed them publicly. In 1913, he mourned the death of Hub, his Boston terrier, in an editorial he wrote for the Marion Star, which is reproduced in the present volume. He "voiced" his palpable grief over "broken companionship" and argued for the possibility that a dog has a soul or at least "the essence of soul." "As a national leader, Harding contributed to the animal welfare movement by using his public standing to inspire the kind of respect for nonhuman animals captured in the 'Hub' editorial. On Inauguration Day, he talked to President Wilson about the feelings of a dying elephant; in 1923, he confessed to long-lasting remorse over his failure to save an "innocent" family gobbler from the block; and, during 1921-1923, he and 'Laddie Boy' continually witnessed to the strength and benefits of the human-dog bond. "Because the Hardings never claimed that Laddie Boy was a dog unlike any other or that the President's close bond with Laddie Boy was unique, appreciation for America's First Dog was appreciation for dogs in general. Indeed, when Harding learned of Dick, a resident alien's dog condemned to death under a Pennsylvania state law requiring that "dog-owners" be citizens, the President successfully argued for Dick's life, writing that he understood the situation because he too shared the love of a good dog. (SOURCE: Helena Pycior, "The Making of the 'First Dog': President Warren G. Harding and Laddie Boy" in: Society & Animals 13:2 [2005] pp. 5-6). The present volume was produced as a memorial to President Harding, who had died just a few days earlier in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. It reprints Harding's tribute, originally published in the Marion, Ohio, Star, of which Harding was long the editor. The engraver, Bernhardt Wall, identifies this work in the colophon as his 18th book.
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