The White House Gardens: A History and Pictorial Record.

KRAMER, Frederick L. [Jacqueline Kennedy].

Item Number: 109779

New York: Great American Editions Ltd, 1973.

First edition of the first book to trace the history of and fully illustrate the grounds of the White House gardens. Oblong quarto, original cloth, pictorial endpapers. Illustrated with color plates by Harold Sterner. Association copy, inscribed by Jacqueline Kennedy to her stepbrother Hugh “Yusha” Auchincloss III in the year of publication, “For Yusha with love Jackie Christmas 1973.” Jacqueline and Yusha became step-siblings when Yusha’s father, American stockbroker Hugh D. Auchincloss married Jacqueline’s mother, Janet Lee Bouvier, in 1942. Auchincloss had previously been married to Maya de Chrapovitsky, a Russian noblewoman and Yusha’s mother. After their divorce in 1932, Auchincloss married Nina S. Gore, mother of Gore Vidal, and following their divorce in 1941, married Bouvier. Very good in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. Introduction by Lloyd Goodrich and text by Frederick L. Kramer with a commentary by Mrs. Paul Mellon.

The White House Gardens is the first book that traces both the history of the most famous gardens in the United States (from the time of John Adams to the present), and gives detailed illustrations on how they are planned and how they appear. Patricia Nixon states in the preface to the work: "This impressive volume is an artistic treasury ... a comprehensive reference ... a vital document. I invite you to experience the historic traditions which are so much a part of our national heritage."