[Archive]: A Collection of Inscribed Books, Correspondence, and Ephemera Related to FDR and his Friend and Personal Assistant, Marvin H. "Mac" McIntyre

Washington, D.C., 1943. Unbound. Near Fine. A remarkable collection of letters and limited edition books from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to his longtime friend and personal secretary, Marvin H. "Mac" McIntyre. The collection includes 10 Inscribed books (each issued in an edition of 100 copies or less), a large, early Inscribed portrait, nine Typed or Autograph Letters Signed, and several additional items related to their long friendship and professional relationship. The collection is overall near fine.

McIntyre (1878-1943) was born in Kentucky and studied at Vanderbilt. While working as Special Assistant to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, he befriended then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. McIntyre went on to work on Roosevelt's 1920 Vice Presidential campaign; this collection includes a striking 1920 portrait of Roosevelt warmly Inscribed: "For the only Mc [sic], in memory of our work together, past present, and to come. Franklin D. Roosevelt. August 3, 1920."

McIntyre remained in Washington during Roosevelt's subsequent tenure as governor of New York, but as Roosevelt's 1932 campaign gained steam, he tapped Mac to be his Press Officer. Upon taking office in March 1933, Roosevelt appointed McIntyre as his Appointments Secretary, essentially putting him as close to the President as Missy LeHand or Grace Tully. McIntyre was away from the White House from 1938-1941 due to illness, but returned to his post in 1941. McIntyre died in December 1943, in the middle of Roosevelt's third term.

McIntyre had several titles over the years: Assistant Secretary in Charge of Appointments, Traveling Secretary, Appointments Secretary, and Correspondence Secretary, and it is clear that the two men were close. In addition to warmly Inscribed copies of Roosevelt's cruise logs and famed "Christmas books" (including the highly sought-after *Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill* of 1942), the correspondence, some of it written during McIntyre's convalescence in North Carolina, shows Roosevelt's esteem for the man. In 1938 he writes: "I am often touched, but seldom have I been so touched as by your letter to Miss Le Hand. It was one of a very small number of letters which occasionally she shows to me. Both of us were dissolved in tears. Your one hundred per cent support in the mountains of North Carolina means more to me than carrying Vermont."

The letters, four four Autograph Letters Signed and five Typed Letters Signed which span the years 1933-1942, are brief and very cordial catch-ups; FDR writes of his confidential travel plans, a fishing expedition, and thanks him for a Christmas gift. One letter was sent from the London Economic Conference sometime in July 1933, and another is a Signed copy, of a letter of thanks that FDR sent to the Dean of Atlanta Law School, who was conferring an honorary doctorate on McIntyre. All of the letters save one are in their original envelopes; the envelopes show light wear, the letters, aside from a single original fold, are fine. Also included are four notes Initialed by Roosevelt and five typed carbons of letters from FDR to McIntyre (likely made by the family), the originals not present here.

Another testament to their friendship is that several items were gifted to McIntyre's widow after her husband's death. Roosevelt Inscribes his 1943 "Christmas book" to her: "For Dodie McIntyre - This was on the list for good old Mac, and I want you to have it in his memory. Franklin D. Roosevelt." He would also send her an Inscribed copy of the following year's "Christmas book," sadly his last. Also included is a holiday letter written by FDR's long-time Press Secretary Stephen T. Early to McIntyre's widow Dodie five years after his passing: "I treasure your friendship as one of my most satisfying possessions." Dodie was also invited to the White House for a 1966 presentation of a portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt to the White House collection; this invitation is also included.

A remarkable collection of rare and desirable Roosevelt publications, warmly Inscribed, and letters and related material, the fruit of a longtime personal and professional relationship.