THE FIRST WHITE HOUSE LIBRARY

Although many early US presidents were avid readers and book collectorsGeorge Washington John Adams and Thomas Jefferson to name a fewthey usually brought their own books to the White House and removed them at the end of their terms It was not until 1850 that Millard and Abigail Fillmore established the first official White House collection This catalogue of the library that they assembled not only reveals much about their own preoccupations and interests and those of the age they lived in but also provides insight into American library history reading history and book trade and distribution networks Aside from the editor the contributors are William Allman Elizabeth ThackerEstrada and Sean Wilentz For more information about First Ladies Libraries visit httpwwwfirstladiesorg