The Roosevelts, a Broadway Producer, and the Gutenberg Bible

by William A. Harris, Director

The FDR Library collection continues to surprise us with its richness and variety. Last week, while conducting one of our annual inventories, we were reminded of an unusual item in the archives, an original leaf from the Gutenberg Bible. From this historical item springs one of those stories about the Roosevelts that we love so much, for it gives insight into their relationship and approaches to the world. This story also serves as a lesson about collecting, collectors, and our responsibilities as stewards of history. The Gutenberg leaf under discussion here was a gift from Broadway producer and Roosevelt friend, John Golden. His eponymous theater still operates on the Great White Way.

Golden was a colorful show business success, a producer of many popular productions. He was also the composer and lyricist of a host of successful songs now mostly forgotten, but lucrative early in his career. He loved the theater with a capital “T,” its traditions, its personalities, its legends. He could tell a tale with panache, but he could listen, too. That FDR could hold forth with a story is well known. He found in Golden an eager audience and a gifted raconteur, too, always ready with a tale about the New York stage and the eccentric inhabitants of those few square blocks in New York City from which so much of our popular culture has sprung.

In terms of his connection to ER, she loved the Theater, and he knew it. She attended plays and musicals regularly throughout her life. While First Lady, it was perhaps her only indulgence. She often hosted casts at the White House when a tour brought a Broadway show to Washington, DC. Though an entertainment medium, ER also saw theater as an educational endeavor essential in a thoughtful culture. Golden impressed ER with his generosity of spirit. He was a notable philanthropist, eager to help the children of New York City and ready to give the receipts of stage productions to various causes during World War II. Other than the occasional commendation letter to the Broadway community, he asked for little in return.

Thus, it came about that after ER offered birthday well wishes to Golden in 1940, in a longhand letter no less, the producer decided to return the gesture. In that show business way that prizes “showy,” he presented ER with a grand gift–a leaf from of all books, that most rare one, the Gutenberg Bible. How he came to possess these pages from Second Corinthians requires a brief explanation of the infamous volume, A Noble Fragment, Being a Leaf of the Gutenberg Bible (1450-1455).

A Noble Fragment originated in 1921, a commercial project concocted by the rare book dealer, Gabriel Wells. He acquired a copy of the Gutenberg Bible sans several leaves. Because the book was already incomplete, he decided to break it into fragments (or leaves) and sell them in individual volumes for $500 to $1500 apiece. That many of the forty or so extant Gutenberg Bibles were also incomplete mattered not to Wells as he cynically sought to “democratize” ownership. He was assailed at the time for this destructive act and his reputation is no better today, especially after later commercial scandals. He had the leaves individually leather bound with an introductory essay. They sold quickly.

Setting aside Wells’ heretical approach to such an historical item, Golden’s gift itself resulted in responses from ER and FDR that are almost too aptly reflective of their personalities. ER appreciated the gesture but let Golden know he shouldn’t have purchased such an expensive gift. She also observed that FDR, himself a rare book collector, might “appropriate it.” No doubt she put up no argument inside the White House, for neatly on the inside cover FDR signed his name and the date, his mark of ownership for so many books in his personal library. He had indeed appropriated it just as ER had said in her thank you note. Golden was probably pleased either way.

Thus, this little volume, this slice of history, forms yet another essential piece of the puzzle that is the Roosevelts’ relationship, but also a glimpse into their connections to friends and associates like John Golden. He became another in that curious assortment of the famous and the infamous who became a part of their lives. Of course, the Gutenberg “noble fragment” remains important not merely because of the Roosevelts, but because of its content, its origin and precedent, and its reminder that our past is a fragile thing, the evidence of which is our responsibility to protect and share for future generations.

For additional, colorful letters and telegrams from the Roosevelts’ friends and associates, visit the Library’s special exhibition, Signature Moments: Letters from the Famous, the Infamous, and Everyday Americans, running through July 2026. On view are original items from over 100 personalities of the 20th century.