James A. Garfield’s Signed Copy of “A Grammar of the Latin Language” with Over 30 Words in His Hand

The first Presidential memorial library, completed at the Lawnfield estate in Ohio by the widow of James Garfield four years after his assassination, houses almost 3,000 books that were used and treasured by the 20th president. Books were a scarce commodity to young James, who lost his father before the age of two, and was raised by his mother who struggled to maintain a humble existence. Both James Garfield and his wife Lucretia were voracious readers and amassed a large collection of books. Some twenty years ago, several dozen of his books were de-accessioned, and one of these books is described below:

Book signed “James A. Garfield / Hiram Ohio / Aug 28 1851” in pencil on first blank flyleaf. “A Grammar of the Latin Language; for the Use of Schools and Colleges” by E.A. Andrews and S. Stoddard. The Eighteenth Edition. Boston: Crocker and Brewster, 1850, 323 pps, 4.5” x 7”. Lower blank portion of flyleaf torn away. Worn corners and edges. Reinforced separation at inside hinges. Garfield’s 2.75” x 1.5” bookplate “Inter Folia Fructus / Library of / James A. Garfield” affixed inside front cover. Over 30 words relating to mythology and vowels and consonants have been penciled by the 19-year-old Garfield on the inside back cover. Half leather over cloth, titled in gilt on spine: “Andrews / and / Stoddard / Latin / Grammar.” Placed in a custom-made green cloth covered four-flap box housed in a matching custom-made green cloth covered slipcase with book-like spine, five raised bands, with gilt-lettered title, author, and “James Garfield’s / Signed Copy / 1850” on spine.

From JamesGarfield.org: “In 1849, Garfield’s mother persuaded him to enter Geauga Academy in Chester, Ohio, which was about ten miles from his home … While at Chester, he met a Miss Lucretia Rudolph, his future wife … His nature, always religious, was at this period profoundly stirred in that direction. He was converted under the instructions of a Campbellite preacher, was baptized and received into that denomination. They called themselves “The Disciples” condemned all doctrines and forms and sought to direct their lives by the Scriptures, simply interpreted, as any plain man would read them. This sanction to independent thinking given by religion itself had great influence in this young man that kept his earnest nature out of the ruts of bigotry. From this moment, his zeal to get the best education heightened and he began to take wider views, to look beyond the present and into the future. In 1851, after finishing his studies in Chester [where he received awards in scholarship in his Latin classes], he entered the principal educational institution of the Campbellites [Disciples of Christ], Hiram Eclectic Institute.” He dated this book in 1851 as he entered Hiram. As president of Western Reserve Eclectic (later Hiram College) from 1857-1861, among the subjects Garfield taught were Latin and Greek.

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