[Theodore Roosevelt, POTUS] Typed [but see Note] Letter Signed with customary boldness Theodore Roosevelt to the English novelist, George Meredith, greeting him fulsomely on his 80th birthday, and describing him as a universal author.

From an Album containing numerous letters to George Meredith and his daughter from contemporaries such as Thomas Hardy, J.R. Lowell, Hall Caine, Joseph H. Choate, Clemenceau, etc. etc.Two pages, 4to, bifolium, fold mark, bottom edge stained, text clear and in good condition. SEE IMAGE. [Googlebooks] This letter was apparently published in The Big Stick (1952) perhaps from a file copy(?). See Note a. below. Text: My dear Mr. Meredith: | Will you permit a stranger to join in very hearty greetings to you on your eightieth birthday? After a writer's work reaches a certain height, he can no longer be claimed only by the people of his own nation; and there are now as many in America as in Englnd who owe you a debt of honorable obligation. I hardly venture to suppose that you will come to America:if you could your greeting would be warm; and not the least warm from those of us who do not put your poems second to your prose writings. It is good to hear the sound of trumpet and horn, whether in verse of prose; in Attila or Brann, or when the Goshawk fights the narauder Baron; and as each man necessarily thinks specially of the problems of his own trade, it is natural for me to feel that what was written to Colonel Charles should appeal to the public men of every free country. | With high regard and all ood wishes, believe me, | Sincerely yours [...] || Mr George Meredith | Flint Cottage, | Bexhill, | Surrey, England..Note: a. This letter was loose in an Album mainly comprising letters addressed to George Meredith or Miss Meredith; b.I've found only one other apparent example of Roosevelt using an italic typewriter (if indeed is what he did) on an American dealer's site (Raab Collection).