First White House Library

Catherine M. Parisian is Assistant Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

• ContentsList of IllustrationsPrefaceMary RegulaAcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsMillard Fillmore and His LibrarySean WilentzThe White House Collection: The Mind of the Common ManCatherine M. ParisianAbigail Powers Fillmore: First Lady of the LibraryElizabeth Lorelei Thacker-EstradaCreating a Room for the CollectionWilliam G. AllmanMillard Fillmore and His BooksellersCatherine M. ParisianBibliographical MethodsCatherine M. ParisianCatalogue of the First White House LibraryCatherine M. ParisianAppendix A: A List of the Books Purchased for the First White House Library in 1850Appendix B: A Subject Index of Books in the First White House Library CatalogueAppendix C: Edward Everett’s Recommendations for the First White House LibrarySelected Works CitedGeneral Index

“Do not be misled by the modest title of this book or by the fact that one of our least-known presidents was behind the first White House library. This book brings together wonderful essays, starting with that by historian Sean Wilentz, and going on to others on the role of Mrs. Fillmore, the library room, the process of forming the library, and, of course, the library’s contents. The catalogue proper of this library that represented the ‘collective mind of the age’ contains mini-essays explaining how each book fit in. This is library history at its best; in other words, it’s cultural history. This splendid contribution to American history deserves to be widely available.”—Kenneth E. Carpenter, former Assistant Director for Research Resources in the Harvard University Library and the Harvard College Library