C. Fred's Story by C. Fred Bush

C. Fred's Story (Signed by Barbara Bush with Paw Print)

A Spaniel's-Eye View of the Bush Vice Presidency, Signed by Barbara Bush and Marked with C. Fred's Paw Print

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: C. Fred's Story: A Dog's Life
• Author: C. Fred Bush
• Editor: Barbara Bush
• Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York
• Publication Date: 1984
• ISBN-10: 0385189710
• Edition Details: Doubleday hardcover edition, 1984. Inscribed and signed by Barbara Bush, with a facsimile paw print of C. Fred.
• Binding: Publisher's hardcover: red paper-covered boards with blue cloth spine, issued with an illustrated dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Octavo-size hardcover, roughly 210 x 150 mm. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Endpapers decorated with dog sketches.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
• Exterior / Boards: The red paper-covered boards with blue cloth spine are clean, with one tiny dark speck on the front board. Corners and edges are sound.
• Interior: The cream pages are clean and the text is legible, with no foxing or markings. The binding is tight. The endpapers carry white-on-tan dog sketches.
• Provenance: Inscribed on the front free endpaper in blue ink: "With all good wishes. Barbara Bush and" followed by an inked paw print for C. Fred, the Bushes' golden cocker spaniel. The signature is handwritten by Barbara Bush; the paw print is a facsimile.
• The Dust Jacket: Present. The cream and tan jacket with a colour photograph is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover. The spine is slightly sunned, with light creasing to the front edge and a few small marks and faint staining to the back panel.

Synopsis & Historical Value

First published by Doubleday in 1984, C. Fred's Story: A Dog's Life is a children's book told in the voice of the Bushes' cocker spaniel, C. Fred, and lightly edited by Barbara Bush. It follows life with the Bush family during George H. W. Bush's years as Vice President, offering a light-hearted glimpse of the second family.

The dog was named, by Barbara Bush's own account, in honour of C. Fred Chambers, a longtime friend and business partner of George Bush. Historian Katherine Sibley described the book as a subtle way to get to know the second family.

Proceeds were directed to two national literacy programmes, Laubach Literacy Action and Literacy Volunteers of America, reflecting Barbara Bush's lifelong advocacy for literacy. This copy carries her handwritten inscription alongside the paw print of C. Fred himself, which makes it an appealing piece of American political and presidential memorabilia.

Author Profile: Barbara Bush

Barbara Bush served as Second Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989 and as First Lady from 1989 to 1993. She was a committed advocate for literacy and founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.

Her other books include two autobiographies, Barbara Bush: A Memoir and Reflections, and the children's book Millie's Book, written in the voice of a later family dog.