"FROM A FRIEND WHO HONORS HIM, CLARA BARTON": PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY CLARA BARTON TO A U.S. SENATOR

(BARTON, Clara) (RED CROSS). Troisième Conférence Internationale des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge… Compte Rendu. Geneva: Comite International de la Croix-Rouge, 1885. Quarto, original blue cloth, uncut and partly unopened. $3500.

First edition of this early annual report of the International Red Cross, presentation copy inscribed by Clara Barton: "To Senator Preston U. Plumb of Kansas, from a friend who honors him, Clara Barton, President of the American National Red Cross, Washington, DC, March 18, 1891."

After working as a nurse during the Civil War, and then with the International Red Cross in Switzerland, Clara Barton returned home in 1873 to urge America's ratification of the Geneva Convention, which the Senate finally ratified in 1882—"a tribute to Barton's foresight, courage and perseverance. For the next 22 years, Barton was president of the American National Red Cross… Sensing that peacetime emergencies would be more compelling than war service, she began to use her society to aid in relief of natural disasters." "The Red Cross as it is known today is largely as Barton defined and developed it… The most decorated woman in America, she counted the Iron Cross, the Cross of Imperial Russia, and the International Red Cross Medal among her trophies" (ANB). Barton assisted in the establishment of hospitals during the Franco-Prussian War, and was associated with Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, having sympathy for the suffragists and early civil rights campaigners. Recipient Preston Plumb was one of the founders of Emporia, Kansas, who was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1862, rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 11th Kansas Cavalry during the Civil War, then returned to political service, becoming a Senator in 1877 and serving until his death. Text in French. Bookplate of R.E. Plumb of Emporia, Kansas, a descendant of Senator Plumb.

A bit of rubbing to extremities, mild toning and soiling to cloth. A very good copy, scarce and desirable inscribed.