The Roosevelt "Teddy Bears" - Set of 5 original illustrations (1906)

From the First Edition of The Roosevelt Bears: Their Travels and Adventures, the first Roosevelt "Teddy Bear" book, by Seymour Eaton, and wonderfully illustrated by V. Floyd Campbell. These are 5 of the original full color plates (out of 16), each very nicely matted and ready for framing. Fine, as new.  A beautiful set of art celebrating the very first "Teddy Bears."

Featuring the two Roosevelt Bears, Teddy B. and Teddy G. who decide one day to leave their home out West and see the sights of the country and the East, the beginning off their fun adventures!

During a well publicized hunting trip in 1902, President Roosevelt's staff captured a young bear and tied it to a tree, anticipating that President Roosevelt would have an easy shot that they could publicize. Roosevelt, however, refused this unsportsmanlike shot and ordered the bear released and set free immediately. The story was covered across America and featured in political cartoonist Clifford Berryman s famous "Drawing the Line in Mississippi" sketch -- thus, the "Teddy Bear" craze was born. 

From 1905 and for about the next two decades, Seymour Eaton's fund loving bears were the subject of some of the most popular children's books in America, popularly linked as they were to Teddy Roosevelt during the 1900s (when he was President), and the 1910s when there was widespread speculation whether he would try to run for a third term. The stories' popularity waned during the roaring 1920s, yet over 100 years later "Teddy Bears" are mainstay of childhood.