These 2 Subscription Books to “Wakefield’s Engravings of the Presidents”, circa 1842-44, published by Charles A. Wakefield, are a treasure trove of mid-19th Century American history, each containing approx. 200 pages (Vol. I 192 pgs. Vol. 2 222 pgs) with 2,700 signatures, arranged into 120 villages, towns or cities. Here are signatures of Presidents, Vice Presidents, Cabinet members, Members of Congress and many other prominent citizens who either paid for or (in the case of the Presidents and other of the bigger names) were gifted with engravings of former U.S. Presidents executed by the artist Kimberly. The recipients of the engravings would have to sign one of the 2 volumes when they received their engraving. Signatures include: John Tyler, John Quincy Adams; Andrew Jackson (with a note in his hand reading: “Presented to me at the Hermitage this 13th of March 1844”), James Buchanan; James K. Polk; Charles Dickens; P.T. Barnum; Winfield Scott; Robert Anderson; William H. Seward; Thaddeus Stevens; Lewis Cass; Daniel Webster; Samuel Southard; Abel P. Upshur; Charles A. Wickliff; Walter Forward; William Merrick, Francis Granger, Nathaniel P. Tallmadge; Silas Wright Jr.; Levi Woodbury; numerous members of the 27 and 28th Congresses (1834-44); etc. Next to most signatures is marked “Paid”, although the Presidents and some of the more important VIPs do not have this notation, likely because the publisher gave them engravings as a gift. Most of the signatures are from 1844. Condition of signatures and the books themselves (4.5 x 6.75”) average EX. Exterior shows some rubbing, overall VG and totally intact. Interior has moderate soiling and some staining. An excursion through the pages is a journey back to the genteel pre-Civil War era when the convulsions of secession and slavery had not begun to roil. There are even news articles pasted onto some pages talking about the signatures, adding a further authnetic flavor of the times. These books are stunning and important revelations for history buffs and antique autograph hounds.