INSCRIBED BY MAMIE EISENHOWER TO DWIGHT'S PERSONAL PHYSICIAN

(EISENHOWER, Mamie and Dwight). Five-Star Favorites. Recipes from Friends of Mamie and Ike. New York: Golden Press, (1974). Quarto, original full red leatherette, all edges gilt. $2200.

Limited first edition, number 377 of 1000 copies, inscribed to Dwight Eisenhower's personal physician, "For Dr. & Mrs. Harold Johnson from their friend Mamie Doud Eisenhower."

Dr. Johnson was Ike's principle physician after his retirement to Gettysburg, and the two couples became good friends. There's a slight irony in the gift of this selection of refined supper party favorites—with typically vibrantly colored 70s food photography—to Hal Johnson. The ex-president had come to Gettysburg after a period of well-publicized ill health, which required him to follow a stringent regime encompassing a fairly bland diet. One night Johnson and his colleague Dr. Sterrett were summoned to the Eisenhower farm, Ike being troubled by severe stomach pains; "they asked the former president what he had eaten for dinner the previous night. ''Pig knuckles and sauerkraut,'' Eisenhower quickly replied, knowing full well that he had violated the rules. When Dr. Johnson asked him why he had done it, Eisenhower was equally forthright. '''Cause I like it, darn it!' he declared" (Lerner, "An M.D.'s Guide to Ike's Heart and Hearth", New York Times, 13 January 2004). Without original slipcase. Laid in is a "Best Wishes" card that is also signed by Mamie Eisenhower.

One tiny indentation to rear board. About-fine condition.