[Prospectus] The Ladies of the White House; or, In the Home of the Presidents; being a complete history of the social and domestic lives of the Presidents, from Washington to the present time

Philadelphia: Bradley, Garretson & Co, 1881. Good +. Philadelphia: Bradley, Garretson & Co., n.d. [but 1881?]. Quarto (29cm.); printed bifolium; illus. of the White House on rear panel. Rather extensive splitting along old folds, a few small soil spots, else Good to Very Good and complete.

Prospectus for this highly popular group biography of the First Ladies, arguing that until now "The Ladies of the White House have had no biographers. They have exerted an influence on their semi-official position, second only to that of the Presidents, yet their careers have been unhonored in history; unsung in poetry." The volume was issued in four different bindings, each more luxe than the previous ("Fine English Cloth," the cheapest option: $3.50; Fine French Morocco, Full Gilt Sides and Edges": $4.50).

Rear panel reproduces eleven press notices, chiefly from Philadelphia and New York, though the St. Louis Republican notes that "It is a bright-winged flight of the domesticity which soars above and hovers about our republican government, but is not of it, and seldom, if ever, soils its plumage with politics."

Not separately located in OCLC as of April, 2025-- the "prospectus" held at UCSB is most likely a salesman's dummy based on description.