Books: Roosevelt Revision

When on the eve of its public sale Macmillan Co. last month abruptly recalled from all book dealers Roosevelt, The Story of a, Friendship, by Owen Wister, (TIME, June 23) book reviewers were puzzled, historians baffled, as to what was the matter with the book. The publishers spoke vaguely of “certain corrections” it was “necessary” to make but declined to explain what grave thing was forcing them to expend perhaps $100,000 on repaging, replating, reprinting, rebinding. Author Wister was in Europe. His family referred to “anonymous protests.”

One conclusion was that the family or friends of Woodrow Wilson had objected to some of the things Mr. Wister quoted Theodore Roosevelt as saying about the War President. But Ray Stannard Baker, Wilson friend and biographer, announced that Mrs. Wilson’s policy was “to pay no attention to critical comments or verbal abuse of her husband.”

Last week Macmillan re-issued their Roosevelt, still declined to explain their “corrections.” Now it was discernible, however, where the change in text had occurred.

Author Wister had told how President Roosevelt a quarter-century ago visited an old southern city (his mother, Martha Bulloch, came from a fine old Georgia family) where an ambitious hostess contrary to the orders of the reception committee, persuaded him to enter her home on the pretext that he would thereby give profound pleasure to an old family slave on the brink of death. The President, all innocent of the trick, was her brief guest, took a cup of tea from an ancient Negro servant. Claiming that the family of the President’s hostess had owned no slaves, that she herself had hired the old negro for this occasion, the other ladies of the city were indignant. Before that, they said, she had paraded an adopted baby as her own and a Louisiana woman, member of a family of salad dressing makers, as a famed French novelist.

Mr. Wister reported that, when he informed President Roosevelt of the ruse: “The President’s face flushed darker than I had ever seen it. Then he shut his teeth with that familiar snap of his, as he said:

” ‘That is exactly how it happened.’

” ‘Oh, oh! gently murmured Mrs. Roosevelt, ‘oh. oh.’ ”

Apparently the hoaxing Southern hostess, still alive, had threatened a libel suit unless the story about her was eliminated, together with some uncomplimentary hearsay evidence on her social resourcefulness with which Mr. Wister embroidered his tale. Counsel for Macmillan advised the firm it would be less expensive to recall and revise than to face a libel action.