WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Two groups of scholars are working to reconstruct the earliest White House library started by President Millard Fillmore and his wife, Abigail, in 1850.
Pat Krider, executive director of the National First Ladies' Library, said her organization and the Bibliographical Society of America plan to compile a complete catalog of the library reconstructed from surviving invoices, correspondence and memorabilia. It is believed the original library, whose components have long since been sold off, had about 270 books and 260 periodicals including a Bible, an atlas, Webster's dictionary, George Bancroft's "History of the United States from the Discovery of the Continent," the Federalist Papers and a collection of law books.
Krider said as many of the imprints from the library as possible will be secured in their exact editions, and will be displayed eventually at the first ladies' library in Canton, Ohio. Abigail Fillmore, who was instrumental in forming the library, was a schoolteacher and librarian before marrying the 13th president.
