Scope and Content Note
Theodore Roosevelt was an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He was also one of the first conservationists who cared not only about the preservation of land, but also of animals. His enjoyment of the sport of the hunt was also connected with a sense of responsibility to nature as he maintained that, "In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen." This philosophy is reflected in the contents of what he termed his "big-game" library for which he took great personal interest in.
The collection is arranged by call number.
Most of the books in the collection give hunting instruction for specific game with discussion on animal behavior and methods of hunting. The collection is nearly exhaustive in scope with hunting expeditions detailed from every continent and hunting advice offered for a large array of animals including antelope, bird, bison, black bear, buffalo, deer, fish, goat, grizzly bear, elephant, ibex, lion, moose, pig, reptile, sheep, snake, tiger, whale and wolf among others. A smaller subset of the collection features memoirs including, “A Sentimental Safari” which is an account of a safari made by Kermit Roosevelt, (the grandson of Theodore Roosevelt) and his two sons to the same "African Game Trails" first visited by his famous grandfather, fifty years before. There are also art books with hand colored prints, books of poetry and anthropological studies of cultures from around the globe. Many of the books are inscribed by the author to Theodore Roosevelt or his grandson Kermit Roosevelt. 19 items in the collection are oversized and of these many contain illustrations. Most of the 254 volumes bear Theodore Roosevelt's bookplate.
The collection includes a number of significant early editions such as Jean de Clamorgan's La Chasse du Loup (Paris: 1566); Robert de Salnove's La Venerie Royal (Paris: 1655); L'Histoire Naturelle (Paris: 1767), a work by John Ray that was translated into French by François Salerne; and The Histoire of Foure-Footed Beastes (London: 1607) and The Historie of Serpents(London: 1608) by Edward Topsell.
Nine titles have a copyright date after Theodore Roosevelt death date of 1919 including On the trail of ancient man; a narrative of the field work of the Central Asiatic expeditions, 1926; Four Pilgrims, 1920; The Death of Akbar and other poems, 1923; Original Letters from India, (1779-1815), 1925; A Sentimental Safari, 1963; The Wilderness of Denali, 1930; Frontier Folk of the Afghan Border and Beyond, 1920; Bengal Lancer, 1930; Bloody Years, 1932.
Series I: Theodore Roosevelt Hunting Library: The collection is comprised primarily of late 19th and early 20th century publications on hunting, natural history, exploration, conservation, endangered species, cultural anthropology, ornithology and sport. The majority of the titles give instruction and techniques for hunting specific types of game in varying weather conditions, terrain and locations around the world. Books are mainly in English, but French, German and Portuguese titles can also be found. Other genres in the collection include memoir, art and poetry.