With Sword and Pen

Deluxe Boxed Set of "Diary from Dixie"

2012-01-20T21:01:00.010-05:00

Collectors will be interested to learn that a beautifully illustrated, slipcased, two-volume edition of Mary Chesnut’s famous “diary” has just been released by Pelican Publishing. More on that diary in a moment, for in this case, the real treasure is the second volume, which consists of images from Mary Chesnut’s long-lost personal photograph albums. As I have yet to acquire a copy of this set, I’ll quote from Amazon, which states in part how these images were “Thought to be lost or stolen since the 1930s, the albums were only just rediscovered in 2007. An astonishing historical treasure, the photographs are annotated with information about each person depicted and edited by Chesnut's family. Photographs range from many of Jefferson Davis and other famous military leaders and statesmen to those within Chesnut's social circle: Gen. Wade Hampton III and his family including the Preston girls- and their suitors Gen. John Bell Hood and battlefield surgeon, Maj. John T. Darby; literary figures, such as writer Alexander Dumas; and many more individuals, including young soldiers of the elite Charleston Light Dragoons, Elizabeth Allston Pringle - the 'woman rice planter' of South Carolina, and Baltimore spy Hetty Cary.” In addition to the photographs, the reader learns the history of these images, why there were thought lost over the years and even stolen, and then the story of their partial recovery.

As for that famous “diary,” so oft-quoted in the Ken Burns’ Civil War mini-series, scholars and readers now know that her “diary” was really an 1880’s creation based on her notes and journals from the 1860’s, with Chesnut often deleting material not flattering to herself. Whether one has the 1905 first edition, the 1914 second edition, or the 1949 edition of Diary from Dixie, “memoir” would perhaps be a better description of the original work than diary. Vann Woodward’s heavily annotated and Pulitzer-Prize winning Mary Chesnut’s Civil War, published in 1981, brought to light the many changes between the diarist’s original journals and the initial published work. It is now clearly the essential version. Three years later, Woodward published The Private Mary Chesnut: The Unpublished Civil War Diaries which published for the first time Chesnut’s extant and unedited Civil War journals. These two volumes paint the complete picture for the scholar, rendering that original 1905 work little more than a conversation piece of value only to the ardent bibliophile.

Nevertheless, if you're one of those seeking the 1905 first edition as published in New York by D. Appleton and Company, be prepared for a possibly lengthy search. As you can see here, only one copy in fair condition is currently to be found for sale on ABE, though two first British editions are also available. The 1914 second edition is pictured and is offered for sale here.

The World's Most Expensive Book?

2012-01-20T14:14:00.001-05:00

Not what you might think... check it out here.

Time for a Celebratory Cigar

2011-11-29T15:58:00.009-05:00

I'm thrilled to announce that the final draft of my new work has been completed. As I've mentioned before, its working title is "Old Slow Town:" A Social, Political and Military History of Detroit during the Civil War. I turned the manuscript in to Detroit's very own Wayne State University Press earlier this week which means the peer review process now begins. If all goes as hoped, we should be looking at a Spring 2013 pub. date.

This was quite a challenging book as the various social and political issues heavily present in Civil War-era Detroit, i.e. draft resistance, race relations and labor unrest, all required a significant amount of analysis and study. Such home front issues were simply not pertinent in my past works. Plus, it was quite interesting to learn how concerns over street violence coupled with the fear of Confederate raids from Canada affected the local military authorities.

By the way, the caption to this August, 1863 Harpers Weekly draft cartoon is "Don't you see the point?" Indeed.

The Army of the Pacific, 1860-1866

2011-11-25T16:30:00.019-05:00

I'm a total novice when it comes to Civil War operations in the far west and as part of my recent interest I came across The Army of the Pacific: Its Operations in California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, plains region, Mexico, etc. 1860-1866 by Aurora Hunt (1881-1965) and published by the venerable Arthur H. Clark Co. in 1951. Readers may recall that I first wrote of this fine press when I posted on The Organization and Administration of the Union Army back in January 2011.

According to one online writer, “the name ‘Army of the Pacific’ described both Union volunteer units recruited to stay in the Pacific coast states and territories, guarding them from natives and supposed Confederate incursions, and the mix of Regular and volunteer Union units known as the ‘California Column’ sent off to deal with Confederate regulars and irregulars in Arizona and New Mexico. Although they did fight the westernmost land battle in the Civil War (at Pichacho Pass in Arizona) against a few Confederate scouts, by the time they got to New Mexico the Confederates under General Sibley had been turned back at Glorieta Pass and retreated all the way to Texas, and the Californians were put on garrison duty, had occasional Indian encounters, and engaged in minor persecution of Mormons. The ones left behind didn’t have much excitement either, with a few miscellaneous skirmishes against various tribes and now and then the arrest of some real or imaginary Confederate agents.”

The Arthur H. Clark Company published this book as the first volume in their distinguished Frontier Military series. As for the author, her study was based largely on primary sources, including information obtained directly from the soldiers' descendants and rare territorial newspapers. Though the book may at one time have been considered the standard work, it now appears to be a bit dated though still quite useful. Other criticisms (Nevins) include that at 400+ pages, it was far longer than it needed to be. Nevertheless, as it was published by the Arthur Clark Company, it has maintained a high level of desirability among first edition collectors.

Like all Clark books, the work was published in dark blue cloth covers with gold gilt lettering on the spine and top edges of the sheets. The paper was a heavy, cream-colored stock with deckled edges, just what you would expect from a fine press. This one also featured 17 sepia plates and a fold-out map. I do not believe there was a dust jacket per se with this book though one bookseller reported to me that the book came in a plain white jacket with a hole cut in the front for the book’s front panel lettering to show through. As you can see here, fine first editions are not that common, with most of those available being ex-library. One bookseller reports that 1023 copies were printed.

In more recent years, the book was reissued by Stackpole and is readily available.

Last Train From Atlanta

2011-10-14T17:36:00.009-05:00

It's been way too long since my last post. I've been in a controlled frenzy over the past month attempting to wrap up my manuscript on the history of Detroit during the Civil War. After working on this project for just over four years, I expect to be able to send it off to the publisher no later than mid-November. From there, the peer review process will begin.

I did however, take some time out last night to speak to the good folks at the Monroe Civil War Roundtable in SE Michigan. They had a nice selection of used books for sale and from the offerings I picked up a gently used first edition of this post's featured book.

Last Train From Atlanta was written by Adolph A. Hoehling and first published in 1958 by Thomas Yoseloff. Throughout the Civil War centennial and for years after, it was an extremely popular book with the general public and was considered one of the better popular history books from its day that dealt with the Atlanta campaign. Allen Nevins noted in his Civil War bibliography that one of its better features was how it portrayed the effects of the fighting on Atlanta's citizens. In addition, Steven Woodworth cited this book in his The American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research as a solid treatment that focused on Southern civilians dealing with the siege. The author's technique was to present to the reader a day by day reconstruction of the events as they occurred and the impact they had on the city's populace, as seen through the eyes of Atlanta's residents. A testament to its popularity is that it was given the Bonanza Books reprint teatment in the 1970's with those copies being most prevalent today.

First editions are bound in black cloth with silver lettering on the spine. There is no statement of printing on the copyright page though the copyright year must say 1958. As offered here, there was apparently a special limited edition, signed by the author. Despite its age, it is not a difficult book to find in first edition status nor is it an expensive title though, of course, condition is the key. That is especialy the case with this book as, due to its popularity back in the day, most copies one comes across will probably have been heavily read.

Special Fall Book Sale!!

2011-09-07T18:53:00.014-05:00

I'm hoping to clear out some shelf space so I've decided to offer some package deals on my own books. This offer will run until I generate the needed space!

Deal #1: Buy He Hath Loosed the Fateful Lightning and Glory Was Not Their Companion at the combined price of $50 (10% off retail) and get a trade copy of Give My Love to All Our Folks for FREE!

Deal #2: Buy Orlando M. Poe: Civil War General and Great Lakes Engineer at $50 (23% off retail) and get a trade copy of Give My Love to All Our Folks for FREE!

Give My Love to All Our Folks: The Civil War and Post-War Letters of Clinton DeWitt Staring and Charles E. Staring was my homage to fine press books and the old school idea of bookmaking as art. See picture at left and here for full details. I partnered with Deep Wood Press of Mancelona, Michigan on this one to create a slender volume of previously unpublished Civil War letters in a very limited edition of only 100 copies. That edition comprised 74 signed and numbered "trade" copies, as well as 26 signed and lettered copies bound in quarter leather and slipcase.

Poe Bio Now Available as Kindle ebook.

2011-09-05T14:20:00.005-05:00

Kent State University Press, the publisher for my biography of Union engineer Orlando M. Poe, has informed me that the book is now available as a Kindle ebook in addition to its original hardcover format. The price will be $16.49.

This is the first time one of my books has been published in this format, so I'm looking for any feedback from fellow authors or publishers as to how your works have done to date as an ebook, as well as any promotional advice. Many thanks.

Life in the North During the Civil War: A Source History

2011-09-04T12:39:00.005-05:00

I came across this interesting title the other day while doing some research for my current book project. Published in 1966 by the University of New Mexico Press, Life in the North During the Civil War: A Source History is described as “a living record of ideological discord in the North” from Secession to Reconstruction.” Its focus is to present important primary source documents, almost in total, nestled in between the authors’ contextual commentary.

Authors George Winston Smith and Charles Judah have arranged their work in a thematic manner, writing on numerous issues that held sway on the Northern home front during the conflict. Chapters such as “Citizens as Soldiers,” “The Voice of Politics,” “The Negro’s Place,” as well as ones pertaining to the economy, social stresses, amongst others, are all presented utilizing letters, speeches, newspaper articles, diary entries, et al as the primary focus. The authors’ commentary is then woven in between each document to add valuable context and background. In so doing, the authors succinctly explore the roles played by Northern politicians, freedmen, businessmen, soldiers, and economists. (See Eicher, The Civil War in Books, #1001) Further adding to the work are plenty of period woodcuts and editorial “cartoons” that complement each chapter’s particular topic.

It is an attractive 400-page work measuring 6x9” and bound in full avocado green cloth. First editions are so stated on the copyright page (there probably were no additional printings). While the book is not uncommon in the secondary market, finding a nice copy that is not ex-library is more challenging, which is usually the case with university press titles.

The National Archives' "Discovering the Civil War"

2011-08-21T07:48:00.007-05:00

As part of the Civil War's sesquicentennial commemorations, the National Archives has assembled a travelling museum exhibition called “Discovering the Civil War.” After debuting in Washington DC earlier this spring, its first stop on its multi-city tour is in Dearborn, Michigan at the Henry Ford Museum, one of metro Detroit’s cultural crown jewels.

In its earlier press release, the National Archives describes that the exhibit will “peel back 150 years of accumulated analysis, interpretation, and opinion to take a fresh look at the Civil War through little-known stories, seldom-seen documents, and unusual perspectives. Discovering the Civil War presents the most extensive display ever assembled from the incomparable Civil War collection of the National Archives.”

With high anticipation, I set out yesterday to see the exhibit before it leaves town on September 6.

The first thing I realized was that the exhibit is presented thematically, rather than in a chronological fashion. Using the latest in interactive video technology on high-def touch screens at some presentations and more traditional glass cases at others, the exhibit sets out to ask some large questions and then presents numerous historical documents from its collections that the allow the visitor to form some answers. Most of the exhibit features letters, proclamations, photographs, etc. that have been blown up to a poster size facsimile for easier reading, often with the key passages highlighted for the reader. A nearby smaller plaque explains to the visitor what the document is, who wrote it and when, plus additional context.

Every possible theme is covered from women and the home front, who the generals were and their pre-war relationships, to more military-oriented topics such as foreign relations, espionage and the draft.

The role of slavery as the war’s central cause is, of course, front and center at almost every turn. How the war impacted free black men and women in the north is covered, as is the impact of reconstruction on blacks and whites alike. The exhibit concludes with a number of interesting presentations on the Civil War in our collective historical memory.

Visitors looking forward to seeing discussions of and documents pertaining to the war’s grand military strategies, campaigns or battles will be sorely disappointed. This is an exhibit that strives for nuance and therefore delves deep into the “why” of the war and how those answers impacted the course of the conflict. It seemed to me that any presentations that touched on the “battle” aspects of the war were almost an afterthought.

I can’t say I was surprised because this focus on slavery, emancipation, politics and the social aspect of the war is what is currently in vogue. And that’s understandable as the battle and campaign aspect of the war has, frankly, been covered ad nauseum over the past 150 years, IMO. If this exhibit comes to your home town, you’ll want to check it out.

Interesting Article on Collecting Civil War Books

2011-08-15T22:11:00.008-05:00

I came across this article from Fine Books and Collections magazine and thought fellow Civil War Book Collectors might be interested.

Of special note was the author's comment regarding pamphlets printed during the war. I own very few but it is an area where I've been seeking to expand my collection. Anyone else out there collecting pamphlets?

R. E. Lee: A Biography

2011-07-13T09:54:00.004-05:00

I was doing a bit of internet surfing the other night and came across a description of Douglas Southall Freeman's legendary four-volume biography of Robert E. Lee from the C. Dickens Fine & Rare BookSellers in Atlanta, Ga. It reads in part:

When approached by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1915 with the request for a biography of Gen. Robert E. Lee, CSA, Douglas Southall Freeman embarked on a 19-year journey that would finally produce the epic four-volume R. E. LEE in 1934. This set won a Pulitzer Prize in 1935 and has become one of the most respected biographies ever written.

Freeman, realizing that many biographies of Lee had been written prior to his accepting the task, sought sources that had been rarely, if ever, consulted. These sources included: the records of the Bureau of Engineers and of the United States Military Academy; collections of Southern families that included Lee's letters; correspondence and memoirs of those who served with and against him in the War Between The States; and the files of Washington and Lee University.

The portrait of Lee that Freeman paints in these four volumes is that of a true leader, who was loved by his troops and respected by those who opposed him. Lee was able to exhibit some of the best qualities of humanity in some of the most inhumane situations. In example after example, Freeman introduces us to this noble Victorian.

Along with its companion set, Lee's Lieutenants (also by Freeman), R. E. Lee provides a realistic, informative and sympathetic portrait of "Marse Robert", a man loved and respected in victory and defeat.

A first edition set of Freeman's biography of Lee is by any measure a cornerstone for Civil War book collectors and, almost needless to say, can be quite pricey. The work was published by Charles Scribners, bound in red cloth with gilt lettering on the spine, and in a slipcase. First editions are indicated by the Scribner "A" on the copyright page. Sets with a Freeman signature are even more rare, as seen here.

After winning the Pulitzer Prize, Scribners published the four volumes in a "Pulitzer Prize Edition," (pictured) which is far more affordable and visually more attractive. The second printing of Pulitzer Prize Edition was housed in a wooden crate that is now quite rare. The crate is printed on two sides with "R.E. LEE, 4 VOLUMES, PULITZER ED., SCRIBNER'S". Any set that includes the original slipcase or wooden crate will command a premium.

Does "Following the Flag" Also Apply to Civil War Books?

2011-07-12T16:29:00.013-05:00

In the world of collecting first editions, serious collectors want the first printing from the country where the book in question made its first appearance. This is especially the case for any fiction genre, whether its literary fiction, science fiction, mysteries, etc. So if collectible author "A" has a new novel that appeared in England a week or so prior to its publication in the U.S., that British edition is the one many, if not most collectors will want. A well-known example is the Ernest Hemingway novel Across the River and Into the Trees, which was published by Jonathan Cape in England three days prior to its publication by Scribners here in the states.

If you consider yourself a Civil War first edition book collector, do such "rules" matter to you? Let me know, as I'd love to read your opinion on this.

My question is prompted by the recent publication of A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War by acclaimed British historian Amanda Foreman. This much-hyped, 1008-page epic has just been published in the states by Random House to stellar reviews and may very well become the standard work on the subject.

Since the author is British, I went to Amazon.uk to see if the book had been published there. Lo and behold, I discovered that it was first published in England on Nov. 4, 2010 by Allen Lane Publishers with the slightly different title A World on Fire: An Epic History of Two Nations Divided. So for me at least, that's the edition I will buy. Does such minutiae matter to any other book-loving Civil Warriors, or is such hair-splitting limited to the fiction genres?

UPDATE Aug. 21 - My book has arrived from England and to my surprise, it's a signed copy!

On the Maturing of the Rare Book Market

2011-06-12T09:57:00.002-05:00

Veteran bookseller Ken Lopez gave a talk last year on what he sees as the dramatic changes that have taken place in the rare book market in the last 10-15 years, and the even more dramatic changes in the past 5 or 6 years. He talks about what kinds of changes have ocurred, what has caused them, what do they mean for now, and what are their implications for the future. Full transcript here.

Time Flies

2011-05-25T16:32:00.004-05:00

I cannot believe it's been close to two months since my last post! Between the day job, family commitments and working on my current book project, time does indeed have a way of flying by.

But do not fret gentle collectors - a post on the premier book pertaining to Northern medical operations, Doctors in Blue: The Medical History of the Union Army, is forthcoming.

In the interim, two comments. First off, I visited the 33rd annual Ann Arbor (MI) Book Fair this past Sunday. As book fairs go, I'd say it's on the smaller side, nevertheless it was well stocked with scores of beautiful first editions in all literary genres at breathtaking prices. Civil War books however, were another story. Frankly, I was amazed at the relative lack of quality Civil War titles being offered. This was especially perplexing considering the ongoing sesquicentennial. Have others noticed anything similar?

Second, as I was signing on, I noticed at my "dashboard" that the April 5 post was #300. Amazing. This blog has been a source of great amusement for myself as well as a bibliographic learning experience. It was and is intended as a light-hearted gathering spot for Civil War book collectors. A cuppa joe and a friendly chat if you will. Nothing too serious though I do go off on a tangent from time to time. If you, fellow collector, have learned anything or enjoyed visiting from time to time, then it's been time well spent for me.

The "Battle" of Picacho Pass

2011-04-05T19:21:00.013-05:00

My family and I are currently in Arizona for a combination business trip/family vacation. Yesterday we went hiking at the Picacho Peak State Park, which is located on I-10 about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. It's also the interpretive home for what's known as the Battle of Picacho Pass, aka Picacho Peak, which has the distinction of being the westernmost action of the Civil War.

It's also the smallest affair that I've ever heard of being graced with the descriptive term "battle." Indeed, the total number of combatants were fourteen Union and ten Confederate. Yes, you read that right. Here and here give good overviews of this April 15, 1862 cavalry engagement. The Civil War Album website has some good pictures of the park's various plaques and monuments, including this panoramic explanation of how the skirmish unfolded. Note that in this view you are looking toward the east across I-10. Picacho Peak is just behind you.

The park's visitor center sells a $6 booklet that gives a broad overview of the Civil War in the Southwest and how this engagement came to be. On a more substantial note, Andrew Masich's The Civil War in Arizona gives a thorough treatment of the Union's California Volunteers who fought in Arizona, which during the war was part of the New Mexico Territory. I picked up a copy at Guidon Books, a Civil War and Southwest Americana bookseller in Scottsdale, Az. since 1964.

On a more somber note, I've also learned that this engagement and its state park home are on the Civil War Trust's 2010 list of ten most endangered sites. See here for full particulars.

"Gone With the Wind" Manuscript "Rediscovered"

2011-03-31T17:12:00.004-05:00

Interesting story on the manuscript's history. I did not know that Margaret Mitchell's husband destroyed all of the manuscript in his possession following his wife's accidental death at age 49. Whether he knew or not about other sections of the manuscript existing is unknown.

...Snydacker continued. “Last summer, John Wiley, Jr., co-author with Ellen F. Brown on a recent release of a book called, Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone with the Wind’: A Bestseller’s Odyssey from Atlanta to Hollywood, called, knowing about the foreign language books. I went to the place where they were stored, scanned them for the author, and I was reminded of the 2011 75th anniversary of publication. So we began plumbing our acquisitions, and saw what we had while looking at the catalogue.” Snydacker told us. “So in the catalogue was listed this manuscript. We took it to the library committee and they agreed to take this public.”

Snydacker had it authenticated at Christie’s by Chris Coover, a senior specialist. “We carried it in a fireproof box and he verified that we had the long lost chapters. He was delighted with their condition. This small manuscript serves as proof of Mitchell’s work. Her husband did not know Brett had these last original typescripts.”

Check out the full article here.

Civil War Voices and Soldier Studies

2011-03-25T20:13:00.005-05:00

I'd like to give a hat tip and thanks to Chris Wehner of Civil War Voices for his kind review of my book, Glory Was Not Their Companion: The Twenty-sixth New York Infantry in the Civil War. As the book specs in his comments point out, the publisher reissued the book last year in a trade paperback format.

Chris is also the operator of Soldier Studies, a well done, searchable archive of unpublished Civil War letters both blue and grey. I've added Civil War Voices to the blogroll.

Personal Recollections of the Civil War by John Gibbon

2011-03-20T12:56:00.006-05:00

General John Gibbon (1827-1896) was one of those Civil War generals who seemed to have been everywhere in the Eastern theater, from the onset of conflict right up through the Appomattox surrender. His Civil War career began as chief of artillery for Irvin McDowell’s division, which was then followed by promotion to command of the legendary Iron Brigade at Second Manassas and Antietam. In November 1862, Gibbon was again promoted to command of the Second Division in John Reynolds’ First Corp. After being severely wounded at Fredericksburg, Gibbon was on the sidelines for several months but returned to duty in time to command the Second Division of Hancock’s Second Corps at Gettysburg. On two occasions during that engagement, Gibbon led the corps’ itself but was again wounded and carried from the field.

After regaining his health, Gibbon returned to division command for the Wilderness Campaign which led to a promotion to major general in June 1864. In January 1865, Gibbon was awarded formal corps command of the Army of the James’ newly-created Twenty-fourth Corps. At Appomattox, Gibbon was given the honor of being one of the officers designated to receive the formal surrender of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

Following the Civil War, Gibbon stayed in the army and successfully continued his illustrious career as an Indian fighter on the Plains before formally retiring as a brigadier general in the regular army in 1891.

Gibbon began penning these memoirs in 1885 and were based heavily on his past diaries, letters, and personal notes. Post-war letters to and from current colleagues and ex-Confederates helped to flesh out his narrative. The general passed away in 1896 which led to his recollections sitting in a desk for over thirty years before they were dusted off by Gibbons’ daughter, who edited the manuscript and readied it for publication.

Personal Recollections of the Civil War was then published by G. P. Putman’s Sons in 1928 and from the beginning, received favorable reviews. That perception continues today with Gibbon’s memoir considered to be a candid, straightforward and important account of the war’s Eastern Theater. A contemporary review in the 1928 Book Review Digest described the work as “A volume of reminiscences which is one of the most readable and lifelike of any Civil War memoirs” and “a valuable addition to our knowledge of the Civil War.”

First editions can be readily had if you’re not picky about condition (such as the pictured copy), however copies in fine condition with dust jacket are surprisingly impossible to find, considering that the book was published by a major New York publisher and as relatively recent as 1928. In fact, I’ve been looking for ages and have never found one in acceptable condition. Note that I assume the book was issued with a jacket considering its vintage and the publisher. Reading copies are plentiful since Morningside published a facsimile reprint of the book’s original red cloth boards with gilt lettering in 1978 and then reprinted it years later in their standard format. Also surprising is that the title is not available via Google Print. Pictured copy offered here.

ABE Talks About Battle Books

2011-03-07T23:35:00.002-05:00

ABE (www.abe.com) has a new page where they show off and discuss a number of Civil War "battle" books. Check it out here.

Collecting Lincoln: The Making of a National Treasure

2011-03-02T20:35:00.005-05:00

I found this very interesting piece about a man named Alfred Whital Stern (pictured at left), a clothing manufacturer who built one of the finest Lincolnia collections in private hands. In 1950 he donated the entire collection to the Library of Congress. According to the article, the collection is "comprised of more than 11,000 manuscripts, broadsides, portraits, political cartoons, newspapers, medals, artifacts, autographs and sheet music, and occupying its own room in the Washington library, the gift is known as the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana." And my wife complains that I have too many books....

Among its highlights is a letter written by Lincoln to Gen. Joseph Hooker in 1863 offering him the command of the Army of the Potomac. According to Evans, the letter purchased by Stern in 1941 for $15,000 “is universally regarded to be among Lincoln’s greatest compositions.”

Check out the full article here.

Collecting U.S. Civil War Books: The Men & Women of the Conflict

2011-02-20T01:48:00.003-05:00

AbeBooks.com has published an interesting piece on collecting Civil War books called Collecting U.S. Civil War Books: The Men & Women of the Conflict . Lots of pics of older books. Cool stuff.

The Civil War was perhaps the quintessential American experience. It features battles, political intrigue, espionage, technology development, foreign relations, civic duty and citizenship, patriotism, nationalism, philanthropy, humanitarian assistance, liberation, and military occupation and much more. However, the one common thread throughout all the adjectives in the preceding sentence is that people were the means and the ends of each of these words. These words have a flesh and blood quality in rhetoric and reality.

The Twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry

2011-02-15T19:45:00.010-05:00

The Twenty-fourth Michigan Infantry is probably the most famous of the thirty volunteer infantry regiments that were born in the Wolverine State during the Civil War. That fame begins with the regiment's creation, for it was recruited from Detroit and surrounding Wayne County in July and August 1862 following Lincoln's call for 300,000 more men. The city leaders felt Detroit had suffered an embarrasing show of public Copperhead sympathy that summer during a downtown "war rally" and as a means of showing the city's proper patriotism, Detroit's leading citizens obtained permission from Governor Austin Blair to raise an additional regiment from Detroit, in addition to the six other regiments that were then in the process of being formed around the state.

Many of Detroit's leading citizens volunteered for the Twenty-fourth, which was also known as the "Detroit and Wayne County Regiment." In fact, its colonel, Henry Morrow, had served as Recorder's Court Judge prior to gaining permission to form the Twenty-fourth.

The Twenty-fourth went on to fight in all of the great battles of the eastern theater as part of the legendary "Iron Brigade," which was comprised of the Second, Sixth, and Seventh Wisconsin, the Nineteenth Indiana, and the Twenty-Fourth Michigan. At Gettysburg, the Twenty-fourth suffered the greatest number of casualties of all Union regiment. They went into the first day's fight with 496 men. When the smoke cleared, only 99 were left to gather round the flag.

The first regimental history was the History of the Twenty-fourth Michigan of the Iron Brigade by Orson Blair Curtis. Blair served in the unit and published his reminiscences in 1891. First editions of that title are scarce and very pricey. (Copy to the right is a facsimile reprint offered here.)

Over seventy years later, Donald Smith authored The Twenty-fourth Michigan of the Iron Brigade. Published by Stackpole Books in 1962 during the ACW centennial, the work was, according to Nevins, "a thouroughly complete, twenty-five year labor of love" that featured ample amounts of primary sources unavailable in Curtis' prior work. Smith's work is included in Eicher's bibliography (#1072) and is described as an "excellent survey, which deserves a place in the regimental section of every library." As shown here, first editions are not uncommon, however like most fifty-year-old books, the book's condition as well as that of the jacket will greatly influence price and if in fine condition, expect to pay in the $50-75 range.

Fighting the Good Fight Against Bookshelf Dust

2011-02-13T09:33:00.002-05:00

The battle never ends. Check it out.

"The most effective dust management starts before a book ever reaches the shelf. "When I buy a book, I will carefully open it and slam it shut several times," he said. "Sometimes these big balloons of dust will cascade to the floor." This is where dust belongs, he said, down at vacuum level. Next, "you sort of riffle the pages." Finally, he will run a dry paintbrush along the edges.

As protocols go, it's a good one, Garner said. Yet at the same time he is dusting his books, many thousands of them are turning to dust. Acid paper, which was ubiquitous between 1870 and 1970, "tends to self-destruct," he said.

There can be a gloom to antiquarian book collecting — the authors are dead, we are dying — and the dust doesn't help. Garner likes to place musty books of questionable provenance in the sun to cure. And he opens the windows and airs out the house every two weeks, preferably after a good rain has knocked down the dust outside."

Morningside Books

2011-01-26T15:39:00.004-05:00

I just received the following email from Morningside Books and thought that fellow travellers may be interested:

Morningside Bookshop has a new owner. Andy Turner, associated with Morningside since 1993 and owner of The Gettysburg Magazine, has taken over ownership of Morningside. His goal is to continue on in the tradition of quality books that was established by Bob and Mary Younger. Morningside, along with The Gettysburg Magazine, are now part of Gatehouse Press. Gatehouse will continue to print and sell Morningside titles with the Morningside name on them.

Morningside has always carried many Civil War books by other publishers as well. As the business is reorganizing, we are adjusting our inventory. As part of this reorganization, we are offering many books for sale. These are books that will be sold at the sale price until they are gone and not restocked. Many of them are down to one copy left. Please see the pdf file listing books for $5, $10, $15, and $20 each. Click here for the list

To order, you can call or email, as we need to check stock to make sure the book you're looking for isn't sold out. Once we've verified it's still here, you can pay with a credit card, or we'll hold the book if you prefer to send a check. Please make checks payable to Gatehouse Press. Shipping is $6.00 for the first book and $2.00 for each additional book.

We're currently reworking the Morningside and Gettysburg Magazine websites to update them and combine them into a Gatehouse Press website. We'll let you know when it goes online. We'll also be sending out soon a listing of some of our rare and used books for sale.

With regards,

Andy Turner

Gatehouse Press
PO Box 1311
Dayton, OH 45401
937-461-6736
gatehousepress@yahoo.com

Here we go again...

2011-01-25T13:04:00.010-05:00

MARSHALL, AR – After the mayor of a small Arkansas town flew the confederate flag in observance of Robert E. Lee’s birthday, the city council passed an ordinance Monday saying only the US flag and Arkansas flag can be flown on city property.

Full story and video here.

By flying the flag from the city hall flagpole, the city of Marshall was giving a de facto endorsement of the flag and what it represented, which the local African-American community and possibly a notable portion of the white community probably found deeply offensive. While other members of the community may resent that "their" flag cannot be flown from the city flagpole, I think it's pretty obvious that the message of formally flying the Confederate battle flag on MLK's holiday is viewed by those offended as a big one-fingered salute to the African-American community. Let's keep the Confederate battle flag where it belongs: properly preserved and interpreted in museums and history books.

And as for the bit about "our heritage," Southern culture and heritage is a glorious and diverse one that spans well over 300 years. Why is it that some folks insist on drilling down to only those four years and basically ignoring the rest?

The Organization and Administration of the Union Army

2011-01-23T12:25:00.020-05:00

January 24 Update - Mr. Robert A. Clark, current publisher of the Arthur H. Clark Company graciously replied to my email query from yesterday regarding the initial print run for this title. He states that the work was published in an edition of 750 copies. Further, he writes that "Many of the Clark Company’s catalogs stated that only 475 sets were printed, but all our publication records show that 750 sets were delivered by the bindery." Either way, that's a fairly small number. When you factor in all the sets that may have been lost or sullied over time, coupled with all of those that are/were in public libraries, it's easy to see why fine copies of this book are very collectible.

Today’s post is about an older but still important work titled The Organization and Administration of the Union Army 1861-1865, which explains how the Union army evolved from a small peacetime force into a potent military machine approaching one million men by the time the Civil War ended in 1865. It was written by Professor Fred Albert Shannon (1893-1963) and published as a two-volume work in 1928 by the Arthur H. Clark Company of Cleveland, Ohio at a then-whopping list price of $25. As you can see by this inflation calculator, $25 then equals $310 today! Nevertheless, the work’s impact and importance was such that it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1929.

The books’ primary focus was on the evolution of northern military policy regarding the enlistment and recruitment processes of the army. Shannon also discussed the inter-actions and relationships between the national and state governments in dealing with the problems and solutions pertaining to recruiting, training, equipping, and supplying the soldiers. The author relied heavily on a detailed analysis of census data for much of his conclusions. (As a sidebar, Shannon devoted an entire chapter to what he termed “The Slacker Problem,” which discussed the “skedaddlers” and others who avoided voluntary enlistment or the draft at all costs. I humorously thought “slacker” was a more contemporary term, but was obviously in use eighty-five years ago with the same meaning as today.)

Though definitely a scholarly work, the book nonetheless has an easy to read feel to it. Not surprising, for in the research for this post, I learned that one biographer described how Shannon strove to write history from the perspective of an average American. Shannon believed in common man values as the primary shaper of the United States and as such, held the wealthy in low regard. His interest in this topic first began as a student at Indiana University. After graduation, Shannon taught history at Iowa Wesleyan College for several years starting in 1919. Upon earning his doctorate in 1924, Shannon became an assistant professor of history at Iowa State Teachers College. In 1926 he was appointed associate professor of history at the Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science where he became a specialist in American social and economic history during the Civil War and antebellum periods.

First editions of this two-volume set are bound in dark blue cloth with gilt lettering and trim on the spine. The top edges of the pages are also in gold gilt, which seems to have been the Clark Company’s standard format, for as one admirer of the press wrote in 1963, “…the handsome octavo volumes with the ivory-laid, deckle-edged, uncut pages and the distinctive gold bands and prominent lettering on the spine have long been recognizable on library shelves as ‘Clark books’.” This definitely would have been considered a “fine press” work from back in the day. Like Neale books, the Arthur H. Clark Company also seems to be collected in its own right as a specialty publisher of western Americana, as the existence of this 1993 bibliography attests. The Arthur H. Clark Co. still exists today as an imprint of the University of Oklahoma Press. As for this specific book, the title and copyright pages should have matching 1928 dates in order to confirm first edition status. As you can see from ABE, first edition sets of this work that are not library discards and in solid condition tend to command prices in the $300 range.

Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia 1861-1865

2011-01-08T21:51:00.004-05:00

A year ago I posted about John Billings’ timeless Hardtack and Coffee, considered to be the standard work about the common soldier’s life in the Union army, written, of course, by one who was there. Today’s post is about a book titled Detailed Minutiae of Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia 1861-1865 which tells the story in homespun style of what the common Confederate private went through on a day to day basis and therefore stands as a companion volume to Billings’. One reviewer notes that McCarthy’s comments “are charming discourses on uniforms, camp life, rations and marches” while Nevins describes the book as “deserving of its reputation as ‘the most interesting and informative of all memoirs written by privates.’” The illustrations by fellow Confederate, William L. Sheppard, only add to its luster.

The book’s author was Carlton McCarthy (1847-1936) who by one account was a well-educated child with upper class upbringing. Due to his youthful age, McCarthy served in the Richmond home guard until he could formally enlist as a private with the Richmond Howitzers in 1864, ultimately surrendering with that unit at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. McCarthy’s older brother was a Confederate captain who was killed at Cold Harbor and served as an inspirational source for much of his material.

Kevin Levin of Civil War Memory gives an insightful review of McCarthy’s work as it pertains to the disbanding of the Confederate army following Appomattox and the soldiers’ journeys home.

Following the war, McCarthy took up his pen and wrote this book about his experiences in the war. The work was first serialized in the Southern Historical Society Papers between 1876 and 1878. Its first appearance in hardcover was an 1882 self-published, 224-page effort prepared by “Carlton McCarthy and Company” that featured a tan colored, embossed cloth binding with black and white plates internally. A second edition followed in 1888. Like any desirable book of this vintage, the price for a first edition will vary greatly with the condition. As you can see here, they’ll range from $27 for a truly beat reading copy to $350 for a copy in pristine condition. The pictured copy is an author-inscribed first edition and is offered for sale here.

McCarthy also served as the mayor of Richmond from 1904 to 1908. He passed away in 1936 and is buried at the Riverview Cemetery in Richmond.

Book Collecting in the 21st Century

2011-01-01T20:44:00.005-05:00

I just discovered this online video presentation and wanted to share it with visitors to this blog. It is certainly an apropos topic. In it, Mr. David Gregor, book collector and owner of Gregor Books in Seattle, gives a slide presentation on the fundamental principles of book collecting in the 21st century. Enjoy.

Santa brought me...

2010-12-25T17:06:00.006-05:00

... a copy of The New York Times Complete Civil War 1861-1865, which is a new, massive coffee-table reference work of all the Civil War reporting from this then-Republican leaning newspaper during the ACW. Included with the 500+ page book is a fully searchable DVD-Rom of every article that was published during that era. Profusely illustrated with scores of footnotes by editors Harold Holzer and Craig Symonds, this wonderful work is a must-have for any Civil War researcher or author.

All those trips to the local library to examine roll after roll of Civil War-era NY Times microfilm hopefully just ended. With books like this, the proliferation of Google Print, and the continued online digitization of manuscript material, I think the day is fast approaching, if not already here, where an author will be able to write a scholarly book without ever leaving his/her office.

Good News!

2010-12-05T19:18:00.002-05:00

I'm pleased to announce that I've signed an advance contract for my next book. The manuscript has the working title of "Old Slow Town": A Social, Political, and Military History of Detroit During the Civil War and will be published by Detroit's very own Wayne State University Press.

If all goes as hoped, I'll turn in the manuscript sometime in mid-to-late 2011 with the book then seeing print in 2013, at the height of the ACW sesquicentennial.

Confederate Operations in Canada and New York

2010-12-04T22:26:00.010-05:00

I’ve been working my way through this book as part of some ongoing research and thought I’d share its history here. From what I’ve gathered so far, it is the only primary source work pertaining to Confederate Secret Service activities in the north during the latter half of the war. It’s important to note however, that like so many other reminiscences, the author wrote this book well after the fact and therefore should be used carefully.

John W. Headley (1841-1930) was a Kentuckian by birth who worked in his father’s store in Madisonville at the age of twelve and by the time he turned seventeen had become an expert accountant. He joined the Confederate army at the age of twenty, later serving as a spy for General Braxton Bragg and then riding with General John Hunt Morgan. In 1864 he was sent to Canada where he served with the Confederate Secret Service under Colonel Robert Martin. In 1906, Headley’s book dealing with his wartime service for the Confederacy entitled Confederate Operations in Canada and New York was published by the Neale Publishing Company. That publishing affiliation is what gives the work its primary collector’s value. As I wrote in earlier post, first editions of Neale books are some of the most desirable Civil War books in existence.

Despite its title, a good third of the book deals with Headley’s adventures in the South during the first half of the war. After being sent to Canada in 1864, Headley then describes his various clandestine activities along with Confederate operations in general, discussing at length John Yates Beall and the ill-fated Johnson’s Island raid as well as Confederate attempts to burn New York City. First editions of Confederate Operations are scarce and expensive. As you can see here, there are only four first edition copies currently offered on ABE and none are in very good condition, as evidenced by the pictured copy offered here. For those just interested in reading the book, it is available via Google Print and Internet Archive.

Headley also authored "The Secret Service of the Confederacy" in Volume 8 of The Photographic History of the Civil War.

According to an online bio, Headley married in Tennessee after the war and then engaged in the tobacco business in Evansville, Indiana. From Indiana he moved to Louisville as a member of the tobacco house of Givens, Headley & Company. In his book he recalls that after the war he spent two years in Hopkins County, sixteen years in Evansville, Indiana, and twenty years in Louisville. Headley was a lifelong and loyal Democrat who served as Kentucky’s Secretary of State from 1891 to 1895 in the administration of John Young Brown. He is listed in the federal census of 1900 and 1910 as living in Louisville with his wife Mary J. and children.

Sometime after 1910, he moved to Beverly Hills, California, where he died on November 6, 1930. He is buried in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

Off Topic: George Bush's "Decision Points" Limited Ed.

2010-12-02T23:49:00.008-05:00

The Booktryst blog has a great post about how the so-called signed, limited edition of the ex-president's new memoir has turned out to be a sham, and serves as another cautionary tale to collectors. (Another earlier post here). The book was initially announced as being strictly limited to 1,000 signed copies with the hefty price tag of $350. Now it turns out that the print run is really 4,500 (!) copies because, according to the publisher, "there were a great number of consumers who expressed disappointment at not being able to purchase a copy and we sought to accommodate them."

As Booktryst accurately points out, "a print run of 4,500 is not a 'limited edition.' It is, in reality, close to the average print run for any new, trade (standard) edition book by a non-celebrity.... And the lack of a limitation statement in the book declaring the number of copies in the edition is a huge caveat emptor for the collector. A truly collectible limited edition book always states the number of copies printed."

It will be interesting to see if their prediction regarding this "bogus collectible" comes true: "In the future, sooner or later, copies in very fine (mint) condition of the limited edition of Decision Points will be selling for $75, tops. There are just too many of them." I would tend to agree with that. Good commentary and advice for book collectors of any genre in this one.

Diary of George Templeton Strong

2010-11-15T15:43:00.010-05:00

George Templeton Strong (1820-1875) might very well be the most famous Northern civilian diarist from the Civil War (with Mary Chestnut having the same honor from the South). As a prominent New York real estate attorney and socialite who was born into some privilege, Strong fastidiously made detailed daily entrees that fully caught the atmosphere and action of the times he lived in. He was also an opinionated man. According to Professor John Willis, “Strong combined a distinct elitism with his high attainments, and probably suffered from few doubts about the validity of his opinions, even after he altered them.” His first entry was made in 1835 and he continued on an almost daily basis right up through to his death in 1875.

According to this contemporary obituary, Strong was a founder and treasurer of the United States Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, which allowed him an enhanced position in viewing the war. Strong was also a founding member of the Union League Club, an organization pledged to "cultivate a profound national devotion" and to "strengthen a love and respect for the Union.”

Strong’s 2,250-page diary was first discovered in the 1930s but not made available to the general public until 1952, when MacMillan released it as a four-volume hardcover set in slipcase with wraparound artwork. Complete first edition sets with the slipcase in fine condition are extremely difficult to find and generally run in the $500 range.

Noted Civil War historian Allen Nevins edited the work and provided the introduction. Considering Strong’s Sanitary Commission work, Nevins noted that, “It is evident that during the war few men in the country toiled harder than Strong, or with less thought of reward.” Strong and his diary were extensively quoted in Ken Burns’ TV documentary The Civil War with George Plimpton providing the voice of Strong. Volume 3 covered the Civil War years and was released by MacMillan as a standalone volume in 1962 titled Diary of the Civil War, 1860-1865. Whether one has the four-volume set or the standalone edition, this is a primary source cornerstone of the Civil War.

35 Years Ago Today - "Lest We Forget"

2010-11-10T07:28:00.002-05:00

Michigan's sad version of the Titanic story. The Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest freighter on the Great Lakes and from what I've read, considered unsinkable by some. She went down with all 29 hands on Nov. 10, 1975 in the midst of hurricane-like conditions on Lake Superior. Why she sank is still debated and now the stuff of legend.

Donation of Rare Civil War Books

2010-10-30T08:45:00.002-05:00

Dr. D.J. Canale recently donated a large collection of rare Civil War medical books to the University of Mississippi's J.D. Williams Library.

Rare Books as Investments? Good Luck.

2010-10-24T19:38:00.002-05:00

An interesting piece with commentary from leading rare book dealers on the above topic.

Canada and the United States: The Civil War Years

2010-10-23T20:45:00.007-05:00

I came across this book as part of the background reading for my current project and was completely taken in by its lively narrative, superb research, and interpretations. In fact, I’d say that over 95% of the work was written based solely off of primary sources. Canada and the United States: The Civil War Years was published fifty years ago in 1960 by the Johns Hopkins Press as a revised version of author Robin Winks’ (1930-2003) doctoral dissertation. The book is still in print and has seen four editions, though this finely nuanced work is now retitled as The Civil War Years: Canada and the United States. Go figure. Other works on the Civil War-era “cold war” between Canada (in other words, Great Britain) and the United States have appeared in the intervening years, however this one is still the standard work, in my opinion.

The Canadian Historical Review described it as “A searching examination of Canadian and American attitudes throughout the Civil War, and the effect of attitudes and incidents upon the continuing problems of British-American relations ... The great value of Professor Winks' book is not only in its detailed analysis of Canadian and American attitudes, but also in its conspicuous fairness ... Comprehensive and objective." If you’re a student of the international and diplomatic aspects of the war, then I heartily recommend this book. Winks’ analysis and detective work in illuminating the Confederate cloak-and-dagger operations that emanated from Canada is first rate as well. As a more recent review of the reissue also noted, “A number of the stories here--the Trent Affair of 1861, the St. Albans Raid of 1864--will be familiar to students of North American history. Among Winks's contributions in this study is his ability to place these familiar wartime highlights in a much subtler and more gradual political evolution so as to give us the impression that we are learning of them for the first time.”

The first edition is bound in green cloth with silver lettering on the spine and simply states "©1960 by The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore" on the copyright page. There is no statement of first edition status or number row. Like all university press books of this vintage, finding a first edition that’s not a library discard can be challenging. It’s doubly challenging if you want one in fine condition in like dust jacket, as this book’s white jacket is very easily soiled. I’ve yet to find one, so let me know if you do. I’ll make you a great offer!

State History Award!

2010-10-16T12:43:00.008-05:00

Last night I had the privilege and honor of receiving another award for my biography of Orlando M. Poe. The Historical Society of Michigan bestowed their State History Award in their Commercial and University Press Books category at their annual conference and banquet in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Though this is my fifth book overall, it is the first to be published by a university press. In looking back over the publishing timeline, it’s easy to see that the peer review process utilized by Kent State University Press was invaluable in making the final product a more complete work. In retrospect, the critiques and suggestions offered by the University’s outside reviewers were simply priceless. Even though the publishing timeframe was longer than what I initially expected, the result was obviously well worth the wait. So thanks Kent State, for accepting this work and helping to shape it into an award-winning book!

NEW & Interesting Small Press Book

2010-10-05T18:28:00.003-05:00

From the PR Newswire:

PA Historical and Museum Commission Releases New Book Focused on Civil War Soldiers Who Became PA Governors

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 22 In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has published a book that traces the life of five soldiers who went on to be elected the state's chief executive.

Soldiers to Governors: Pennsylvania's Civil War Veterans who Became State Leaders was researched and written by Richard C. Saylor, an archivist for the Pennsylvania State Archives. Most of the material in the 196-page, full-color, and cloth-cover book has never before been published or exhibited.

"Five of Pennsylvania's first eight post-Civil War governors were veterans of the American Civil War," said Saylor. "This streak spanned four decades, from the election of John White Geary in 1866 to Samuel W. Pennypacker's final day in office, in January 1907.

"Even though these individuals rose to great political height and power, they did not forget their combat memories or neglect their old military comrades. Their war experiences shaped their vision and beliefs."

Pennsylvania governors who fought in the Civil War include John White Geary (1819–1873), in office from 1867 to 1873; John Frederick Hartranft (1830–1889), in office from 1873 to 1879; Henry Martyn Hoyt (1830–1892), in office from 1879 to 1883; James Addams Beaver (1837–1914); in office from 1887 to 1891; and Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker (1843–1916), in office from 1903 to 1907.

The author follows each of the individuals through his military service, discussing the engagements and battles in which he participated. Also included is an assessment of his political career.

In addition to photographs, "Soldiers to Governors" includes extensive endnotes, an index and bibliography. The book is available now at www.PABookstore.com.

The Rebellion Record

2010-10-05T14:30:00.007-05:00

The Rebellion Record was in total a twelve-volume set that was published during the Civil War and in the three years following. Both during the war and in the decade following the conflict, it was certainly a valuable repository of primary source information for general readers, students and historians, but once the Official Records appeared on the scene, much if not most of its value vanished. Each volume is comprised of three sections: “Diary of Events,” “Documents,” and “Poetry and Incidents.” Within those sections, one will find newspaper reports from North and South, various documents and reports, public addresses, maps, engravings, and the aforementioned poetry.

Eicher’s bibliography (#748) refers to the set as an “entertaining hodgepodge of valuable documents and worthless material” that while it does provide “an authentic flavor of the reporting of the war,” the set “contains little worth reading that does not appear elsewhere in a more accessible form.” Any value to modern bibliophiles will be that of a period piece coupled with the always requisite condition, condition, and condition.

I will say that while Eicher’s sentiments are probably accurate in an overarching sense, nevertheless I have always found some very useful nuggets in here for my various book projects. Therefore I would always advise anyone conducting ACW research to give a glance into the Rebellion Record.

The set had two publishers during its initial appearance. G. P. Putnam’s Sons was the publisher from 1861-1863. D. Van Nostrand Co. then took over from 1864-1868 with G.P. Putnams and Henry Holt publishing the twelfth and final Supplemental volume. The entire set was reprinted by Arno Press in a faux leather, facsimile edition in 1977, though I believe that it too is now out of print.

I’ve always noticed that any copies I found for sale were usually ratty and beat, and never in a complete set. So when I saw the pictured leather bound set for sale, it certainly caught my eye. The full set is currently being offered at eBay here for a cool $1750 if you’re so inclined.

Lee and Longstreet at High Tide

2010-09-24T15:07:00.006-05:00

Georgia-born Helen Dortch (1863-1962) was thirty-four years old when she became the second wife of then seventy-six-year-old General James Longstreet in 1897. When Lee’s “old war horse” passed away six years later, he was still considered a persona non-grata in ex-Confederate circles. As part of the burgeoning Lost Cause mythology which fervently implied that Lee was blameless for anything, many of Longstreet’s ex-Confederate colleagues had for decades made him the fall guy for the loss at the battle of Gettysburg and further scorned him for the manner in which he sought to reconcile with Northern politicians and soldiers.

Following the general’s death, Helen Dortch Longstreet vigorously set about to rehabilitate her husband’s reputation. Her result was Lee and Longstreet at High Tide: Gettysburg in Light of the Official Records, a 346-page work that was privately published (i.e. vanity press) in Gainesville, Georgia in 1904 at a price of $2.75. In her book, she sets out to exonerate her husband through a close examination of the Official Records and concludes that “because of the scurrilous comments made by petty men, the South was seditiously taught to believe that the Federal Victory was wholly the fortuitous outcome of the culpable disobedience of General Longstreet."

David Eicher included Mrs. Longstreet’s work is his bibliography of the most important Civil War books (#90), and notes that her analysis was successful and that the case she presented was “strong in Longstreet’s favor.” At the other end, Allen Nevins considered the book to be “painfully defensive in tone” and that while her defense was convincing, it was “at times overdrawn.”

The book is considered an important one on the Gettysburg campaign and first editions are certainly viewed as collector’s items. Expect to pay $300+ for a copy in fine condition, if one can be found. Copies autographed by Mrs. Longstreet will certainly command a higher premium. Sales were such that a second edition appeared in 1905, which is so stated on the copyright page. The book was reissued by Broadfoot Publishers in a facsimile edition in 1988 that included a new introduction by Carl W. Breihan.

Artifact and Rare Book Handling: To Glove or Not to Glove?

2010-09-22T19:12:00.000-05:00

The Most Expensive Book in the World?

2010-09-14T19:40:00.002-05:00

According to Luxist.com, deep-pocketed bibliophiles will have the chance to bid for the world's most expensive book this December. There are only around 100 copies of John James Audubon's massive "Birds of America." The book, which contains 435 hand-colored prints and is more than three feet tall, last sold for $8.8 million in 2000. Sotheby's estimates that the book of four volumes could reach 6 million pounds ($9.25 million) when it is auctioned off at Sotheby's London on December 7, 2010. The sale will also feature a first folio of Shakespeare's plays dating back to 1623 which could bring in at least one million pounds ($1.54 million). These two amazing books come from the same collection, the estate of the 2nd Baron Hesketh, an aristocratic book collector who died way back in 1955. Hmmm....maybe if I raided my daughter's piggy bank....

A Texan in Search of a Fight

2010-09-05T19:30:00.005-05:00

This small and slender volume represents the wartime letters and diary entries of Private John Camden West (1834-1927), who served in Company E of the Fourth Texas Infantry. It is considered one of the better primary source books for anyone with an interest in Hood’s Texas Brigade. According to an obituary and biography of West, he was reputed to have been one of the few who witnessed the death of "Stonewall" Jackson. West was born at Camden, SC in 1834 and married Miss Mary E. Stark there in 1858. After coming to Texas, he was appointed district attorney by Jefferson Davis, but gave up his post to enlist in Speight's Regiment of the Confederate Army in 1862. In the permanent Confederate Government he was again appointed attorney for Western Texas. Determined to see action in the Civil War, West again resigned his position and reenlisted with Company E, Fourth Texas Infantry, in April 1863; he fought at Gettysburg, Chickamauga, and Knoxville before being honorably discharged in February 1864. “Judge West” died in 1927 in the same home he was living in when he enlisted the last time. He was believed to be the last surviving member of Company E.

West’s wartime letters, most of which are addressed to “My precious wife,” form the bulk of the book. The diary entries cover the initial and final periods of West’s service; from April 9, 1863 to June 9, 1863 and March 8 to April 18, 1864. He was a very keen observer and as an educated man, he wrote well, often with a type of humor that is wonderful to read and so often endemic to Texans. According to Gary Gallagher, “West's book includes valuable information about the battles in which he took part, attitudes and concerns of soldiers in the ranks, and the nature of travel between the trans-Mississippi and the eastern Confederacy at the mid-point of the war.”

The first edition is quite pricey though not exactly rare as seen here. Initially published in 1901 by the Press of J. H. Hill in Waco, Texas, the first printing was considered a limited edition and is essentially a paperback original though with flexible orange cloth covers rather than paper wrappers. I'm still trying to learn how many copies were printed as in the initial run. Tom Broadfoot's Civil War Books: A Priced Checklist (5th Ed.) notes that there were two versions: one with an appendix and one without, the former being considered more valuable to collectors. Within a few short years, the book was already being viewed as a collector’s item. For those of more modest means, such as your humble correspondent, a 1969 facsimile reprint from the Texian Press (pictured) is certainly more affordable.

"The Protocols of Used Bookstores"

2010-09-03T20:59:00.004-05:00

The title of this post refers to an eighteen page, serio-comic pamphlet written by David Mason, a fine and rare bookseller in the Toronto area. According to the author of this article, "Mason lists forty-four Rules to be heeded by the used and rare book buyer when patronizing a brick and mortar shop if they wish the proprietor to give them the time of day and a piece of their expertise as opposed to a time of death and a piece of their mind. Mason has put forth these rules 'to help make your quest for a book simpler.'

And to make the collector and seller allies instead of antagonists. Few things are as annoying to a used and rare bookseller as intelligent people leaving their brain at shop's entrance. And few things are as annoying to the collector as a bookseller so aloof that they seem to be at lunch, full-time."

Number One on the hit parade is commonly encountered when a stranger enters the shop. "A library, huh?" Or its close cousin, "Books, eh?"

I'm going to have get one of these just for the laughs. Note ordering info at the bottom of the article if you're so inclined.

Speaking Out Against the Gettysburg Casino

2010-08-31T19:06:00.003-05:00

A professional video prepared by the CWPT.

26th NYSV Regimental Back in Print

2010-08-24T19:03:00.007-05:00

I'm pleased to see that my regimental history of the 26th New York Volunteer Infantry is back in print from McFarland Publishers, this time as an oversized trade paperback. The original 7" x 10" hardcover edition was first published in 2005 and was declared "sold out" by McFarland late last year. Though never a huge seller, the book did receive positive press and has always been one of my own favorites.

The Battle of the Wilderness

2010-08-17T18:45:00.009-05:00

When it was first published in 1910 by Houghton Mifflin, author Morris Schaff’s The Battle of the Wilderness stood as the first ever book-length study of that engagement, and would remain the only such study for the next fifty years. Schaff (1840-1929) seemed to know of what he wrote. He graduated West Point in 1862 as a second lieutenant of ordinance. In March, 1863 Schaff became a first lieutenant and saw action in the Rappahannock campaign. When the Overland campaign opened in May 1864, Lieutenant Schaff was serving as Aide-de-Camp to Major General Warren, and before the war was over he would serve under Generals Hooker, Meade and Grant. Schaff resigned from the Army on December 31, 1871.

Despite Schaff’s closeness to the action, the book was characterized by one early review as “the poetry and romance” of war. Schaff was obviously a soldier but was also considered by his contemporaries to be a poet and a philosopher, thus the reviewer noted how “the two natures are apparent in his writings. You are astonished and your mind is stimulated by some logical and brilliant discussion with shrewd, thoughtful, discriminating comment or suggestion; you feel that the battle and its tactics are being set forth by a master hand, when suddenly the poet seizes the pen and the war is forgotten.” Less forgivable was a critique still endemic to modern tactical studies: the lack of adequate maps, described as “few and woefully inadequate.” Allen Nevins was as equally ambivalent in his more modern description of the book, noting that even though Schaff was “at times pompous, rambling, and lyrical” The Battle of the Wilderness “remains a work of some merit.” First editions of Schaff’s book can be identified by matching dates on the title and copyright page. The title page must state 1910 at the bottom and the copyright page must state “Published October 1910.” As seen here, fine first editions are not all that common. Expect to pay in the $100 range. Today, the work is more of a curiosity as Gordon Rhea’s 1994 book on the battle is now considered the standard work.

Schaff also authored several other military works during his later life. The best known are The Spirit of Old West Point (1907) and Sunset of the Confederacy (1912).

Used Books: On the Up and Up

2010-08-15T13:20:00.003-05:00

Judith Rosen writes the following at Publisher's Weekly:

Even before the recession hit, used-book sales were on the rise. During the past decade, they grew so rapidly that by April 2002 the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers attacked Amazon for placing new books at risk. "If your aggressive promotion of used book sales becomes popular among Amazon's customers, this service will cut significantly into sales of new titles, directly harming authors and publishers," they wrote in an open letter to Jeff Bezos. In the intervening years, not just Amazon but brick-and-mortar bookstores that rely on sales through Amazon, eBay, and Alibris to bolster walk-in traffic, have benefited from the growth of used books. "We do more business online, make more money, than in the store," says Dan Moore, co-owner of 27-year-old McIntyre and Moore Booksellers, a used-book store with a scholarly bent in Cambridge, Mass.

That's no surprise to Brian Elliott, CEO of Alibris, which has 15,000 active sellers, including 80 ABA members. "Alibris had a great 2009. We saw double-digit growth and are still seeing growth overall in 2010," says Elliott. To make it easier for booksellers to manage their business across multiple marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Buy.com, and Half.com, Alibris bought the software provider Monsoon in March. In addition, Alibris continues to partner with retailers like Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, and Borders to match buyers and sellers.

At Half Price Books, the leading dedicated brick-and-mortar retailer of used books in the country, revenue rose nearly 8%, to $220 million, for the fiscal year ending June 30. Last week the bookseller held a grand reopening for its location in Brookfield, Wis., which has added 20% more shelf space. The company is also in the process of moving its Maplewood, Minn., store into larger space at the end of September and will open a new store in Oklahoma City, Okla., later this month. According to spokesperson Rebekah Gannaway, Half Price will have 113 stores by the first quarter of 2011.

But it's not just big resellers that are benefiting from customers trying to stretch their dollars. Earlier this summer, Left Bank Books in St. Louis rearranged its flagship store in the Central West End to devote more space to used. "With the current economic climate," says manager Anna Rimel, "we noticed our used books were high on the list of what we are selling and decided to expand." Left Bank now devotes most of its downstairs to used, although it continues to shelve new and used gender studies titles together upstairs. As part of the transition, the store has enlarged its used children's section and added more teen fiction as well as picture books. Used fiction, philosophy, cookbooks, and art are doing especially well, says Rimel.

Although online buying and selling of used books has come to dominate the market, the recession has increased the used-book supply in general. "Sometimes," says Left Bank used-book buyer Sean Semones, "it seems really overwhelming. There are so few places to take used books that it seems like we are taking all the used books in St. Louis."

Iliad Bookshop in North Hollywood, Calif. (so named because of its original location next to Odyssey Video), has also been overwhelmed by walk-in customers selling books. "It's insane," says Lisa Morton, Stoker Award–winning author and store manager. "I feel like I've been working on the New York Stock Exchange." For her, one of the biggest challenges is simply keeping up with the buying. "Our business is up all the way around. Just in the last year it's exploded," says Morton. In 2009, Iliad doubled in size to 5,000 sq. ft., and it recently hired a fifth full-time staffer with a sixth to be added soon.

Morton attributes Iliad's uptick in sales to the economy. "People who have been collecting for years are suddenly selling their collections. They're telling us they've had to downsize; they've had to move." As for the store's inventory, Morton says that with the exception of a few pop-ups, it's 99.1% used. And being in L.A., many of the books that sell fastest are driven by movies, like Eat, Pray, Love and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

While Iliad and Left Bank do most of their used-book buying in-store, Powell's Books is one of the few independents to have additional purchasing capability on its Web site (powells.com). The software enables it to make an offer based on the ISBN; Powell's pays for shipping. "It's nice after years of buying locally and selling globally to be able to buy globally," says Jon Guetschow, director of used books, who is bullish about used. "We don't know the limits of what we're able to sell. So far we haven't reached the point where the supply exceeds the demand."

The Portland retailer, which also pioneered selling used and new side-by-side, even at its three airport stores, has seen used sales grow consistently. "We think they're a fantastic value," says Guetschow. "The more we put in, the more we sell. I think we stock new books because we can't buy it in used."

In addition, Guetschow has observed a marked increase, roughly 20%, in the number of people asking to be paid in store credit. He attributes the change to cash-strapped customers trying to find a way to replace older books with new. Quoting Erasmus, says Guetschow, "When I get a little money, I buy books, and if any is left I buy food and clothes."

At the Strand Bookstore in New York City, used books have always been a healthy part of the business. Sales have been split 50/50 between new and used (antiquarian, rare, and out-of-print) for a number of years, and both contribute to growth. "Used books have increased and new has increased," says co-owner Fred Bass, who anticipates a 3% rise in total sales this year over sales of $26 million in 2009. In addition, the Strand has seen its online sales, which include both used and new, rise to 25% of revenue through its own Web site (strandbooks.com) and online marketplaces like Amazon and Alibris.

While the Strand continues to stock reviewers' copies, which it sells at half off, lately it has begun carrying more new books. "If we run out, we don't want our customers to go to our competitors," says Bass. One thing he doesn't anticipate lacking anytime soon is quality used books. Like other booksellers, Bass singles out the "tremendous" volume of books being offered as the biggest change in the business in the past year and a half. "We're buying more than ever before," he says. "The rare book department is getting fantastic stuff, and our art department is bursting." Since its purchase of Hacker Art Books several years ago, the Strand has one million art books split between the store and at its 10,000-sq.-ft. warehouse in Brooklyn. Soon customers will be able to get store credit for the first time in the Strand's 80-year history. "Cash has always seemed the most clean-cut and simple method of payment. However, we hope to change that policy in the near future," says Bass.

Some Bumpy Spots

Tony Weller, co-owner of Sam Weller's Bookstore in Salt Lake City, is rethinking everything as he prepares to move the 80-year-old bookstore founded by his grandparents into new quarters with a smaller footprint than the current 37,000 sq. ft. "For years I've held the belief that the presence of my used books helps me sell my new books, and the presence of my new books helps me sell my used," says Weller. He plans to keep a mix of new, used, and rare in the new store and to offer a searchable database of the store's inventory on its upgraded Web site (samwellers.com), which will launch when the store opens.

Unlike many booksellers, he is far less gung ho about the long-term prospects for the used-book market. "We've seen the market shrink over the last 15 years," says Weller, for whom one of the biggest challenges is curbing the appetite of the store's used-book buyers. "The easiest mistake is to buy too much," he says, which is one reason that he asks customers to call first before bringing in their books for sale. "We'd rather disappoint over the phone," he adds.

Although Weller remains committed to used, Peter Aaron, owner of Elliott Bay Book Co. in Seattle, is not sure that they're right for everyone. When the store relocated this summer, he decided to stop selling used entirely. "It had never grown into a significant percentage of our business," says Aaron. "I didn't think we were particularly good at it. It's fine to be seduced by gross profit percentages. Our experience was that it wasn't nearly as profitable as it looked to be."

Certainly the used-book market has undergone tremendous change in large part because of the Internet. As Moore points out, book dealers no longer travel overseas to search out books for resale, and there's a lot of pressure to keep book prices low in part because customers can check more readily online. Penny and 99¢ resellers, who make their money on shipping, also drive down prices. At the same time, increased shipping charges from the U.S. to overseas has discouraged in-store visits from Europeans or Asians who would have to pay $300 in shipping to buy $400 worth of books.

The heady days of the 1970s and early '80s, when used books practically sold themselves through brick-and-mortar outlets, are over. In an interview with the Somerville (Mass.) News, Moore's partner, Mike McIntyre, described selling used books then as "a lot like selling drugs." Still, the Internet and the economy are both providing new opportunities for booksellers. As Powell's Guetschow points out, "As long as people want a tangible copy, used books are designed to compete.

Speculating on the Book Trade - Rare Books as Investments?

2010-08-05T19:02:00.003-05:00

Interesting article. Check it out here.

"My earnings as a book dealer have always been either supplemented, or often superseded by, my earnings from the stock market. I can see a time when the book trade will be reduced to a handful of big businesses in London. There are not enough books to go round, and the present hierarchy of dealers operating at different levels will ultimately disappear. The internet has made the business a level playing field."

Four Years With General Lee

2010-07-25T20:49:00.009-05:00

I would imagine that most serious readers of Civil War books are familiar with Walter Herron Taylor’s (1838-1916) Four Years with General Lee, which is a cornerstone book of Army of Northern Virginia literature. A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Walter H. Taylor was only 23 when he joined Lee as an adjutant in 1861. For the next four years, Taylor would serve as Lee’s principal staff officer. Following the war’s close, Taylor returned to Richmond with Lee where he was able to pose with the general and Lee's son Custis in the famous Brady photograph. He then returned home to Norfolk and began a long and successful business and political career. According to James I. Robertson’s introduction to the 1961 edition, “Walter Taylor was ‘first to last the closest’ of all staff officers to General Robert E. Lee, and his intimate relationship with his commander gives Taylor's writings signal importance in any study of Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia.” Among the many firsthand reminiscences are descriptions of all the major eastern theater battles from the Peninsula Campaign through the 1864 campaigns as well as discussions of Lee’s opinions regarding various commanders. In a history.net review, Peter Carmichael writes that Taylor’s recollections “never violated Lost Cause dogma, but he also never celebrated it. This is what makes Four Years With General Lee so refreshing to read. While most Confederate veterans attacked one another with the aggressive spirit that they had once reserved for the Yankees, Taylor rose above petty disputes. He wrote a relatively objective history of the Army of Northern Virginia that dissects the war without any particular agenda.” Considered a classic, Four Years with General Lee was first published in 1877 by D. Appleton and Company and was already a collector's item by the turn of the century.

What I was not aware of was that Taylor published a second book of reminiscences in 1906 titled General Lee, His Campaigns in Virginia, 1861-1865: With Personal Reminiscences. This work was published by the Press of Braunworth and Company is somewhat of a reworking of the first book with additional material. The extra material consists of more personal observations and reminiscences which, critically, is why this volume is considered the superior of the two works.

As a further note, Taylor’s wartime correspondence titled Lee's Adjutant: The Wartime Letters of Colonel Walter Herron Taylor, 1862–1865 was published by the Univ. of South Carolina Press in 1995.

Pictured copies offered here and here.

More Digitizing of ACW Primary Sources

2010-07-11T17:10:00.002-05:00

MALVERN, Pa., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Accessible Archives, Inc., an electronic publisher of primary source full-text historical databases, has signed an agreement with the University of Iowa to preserve in digital format a number of primary source publications from the Civil War era. The major public research university located in Iowa City counts among its holdings various Civil War memoirs, pamphlets, and regimental histories, which up to now have been available only for those with access to its Special Collections Department. Once the materials have been digitized and made fully searchable, they will become a new portion - an additional part - of The Civil War, a collection from Accessible Archives that has been well received by university and public libraries....

Full story here.

The Radical Republicans: Lincoln's Vanguard for Racial Justice

2010-07-10T14:36:00.007-05:00

No, this isn’t the latest left-wing screed that rails against the Conservative right. Rather, it is author Hans Trefousse’s (1921-2010) classic 1969 work that tells the story of the US Senators and Congressman known as the “Radical Republicans” who fought for racial reform in America before, during and after the Civil War. In addition to their early desire to see black men in the ranks of the US army, they also wanted a very firm and vigorous prosectution of the war with stern treatment of Rebel prisoners and civilians.

A recent obituary for the late professor states that after he wrote biographies that defended Benjamin "Bluff" Wade and Thaddeus Stevens, two detested radicals, “Trefousse wrote arguably his best book, The Radical Republicans: Lincoln’s Vanguard for Racial Justice, tracing radicalism from its late 1840 beginnings to its decline in Ulysses S. Grant’s administration. For a generation, radicals ‘had been in the political struggle for human rights’ and were the driving force within the Republican Party, liberating slaves and guaranteeing black males the right to vote. Trefousse maintains that the radicals ‘laid the foundation’ for the subsequent achievement of their goals.”

The 1969 first edition was published in hardcover by Alfred Knopf in a 5 ¾” x 8 ½” trim size and must say “First Edition” on the copyright page. The blue dust jacket should have the $10.00 price tag on the bottom right of the jacket’s front flap. As you can see here, first editions are not uncommon though as is the case with any 40-yr-old book, condition can be trickier. Pictured copy offered here.

A highly recommended work that is built primarily upon then-unpublished manuscript sources and a must for anyone interested in Northern politics during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Civil War Artifacts - Auction Results

2010-07-09T08:13:00.005-05:00

Confederate Battle Flag Of Gen. Lloyd Tilghman Brings $59,750 As Top Lot In $1.16 Million Civil War Auction

Rare artifacts relating to famous Sons of the South proved both popular and valuable with the more than 780 bidders who competed for almost 900 lots in Heritage Auctions' $1.5 million June 25 Signature Arms & Militaria Including Civil War auction, with the Presentation Flag of Confederate Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman, along with the Inscribed Sword and Sword Belt he was wearing when he was killed in battle at Champion's Hill, leading the way with a $59,750 price realized. All prices include 19.5% Buyer's Premium.

"This was the very first time that this flag, along with the entire set, has ever been offered," said Dennis Lowe, Director of Arms & Militaria Including Civil War Auctions at Heritage, "and collectors took very close notice. All three of these pieces have descended, uninterrupted, through Tilghman's family for almost 150 years. This beautiful and moving piece is simply steeped in American history."

Tilghman was born in Maryland and graduated from West Point in 1836. In 1847 he saw action in the Mexican War and, at the outbreak of the Civil War, commanded the Kentucky State Guard, assuming command of the 3rd Kentucky Inf. on July 5, 1861 and being promoted to Brig. Gen. on Oct. 18 of that same year.

Tilghman oversaw the construction of Forts Henry & Donelson and was subsequently captured at Fort Henry on Feb. 6, 1862 before being imprisoned at Fort Warren for six months. On Aug. 15 of that year he was exchanged for Union Gen. John Reynolds. Nine months later he was killed in action at the Battle of Champion's Hill, on May 16, 1863.

One of the most hotly anticipated lots of the auction, a Matthew Brady Half Plate Ambrotype featuring "The Gallant Pelham," Lieut. John Pelham, circa 1858, was the subject of much pre-auction buzz, and did not disappoint as it brought $41,825. Pelham is one of the most highly romanticized figures of the American Civil War.

"This important original image, while copied countless hundreds of times," said Lowe, "was presumed lost for more than a century before it was discovered to have descended in the family of Pelham's sister for the last 100 years."

Civil War Battle Flags, as evidenced by the top lot in this auction, are among the most highly desirable artifacts from the War Between the States, especially if they are specifically associated with important figures from the war. However, flags without specific association, but important and unimpeachable provenance are also very much coveted by collectors, as seen by the $50,788 final price realized for an early Civil War prototype Confederate National/Battle Flag manufactured for the cause in Georgia.

Sign o' the Times - A Total Bummer

2010-06-30T16:47:00.003-05:00

Michigan has a statewide inter-library loan service known as MelCat. From it, a researcher can easily get library books held in other Michigan libraries that are not in the collections of his/her home library. It's a very smooth and efficient system, as long as what you're looking for is available for lending in a Michigan library.

For really obscure stuff, such as dissertations, that even though available to the public may be found in only one or two other institutions, the researcher had to rely on the traditional inter-library loan system. Just last night I contacted my home library and requested a dissertation from Northern Illinois Univ. that I had confirmed beforehand was available for loan.

Well, I've just been informed that as of July 1, that traditional ILL service to out-of-state institutions has been stopped in all public county libraries, "due to budgetary restrictions." The only advice was to get a card from a local college or university, which I've done in the past. Nevertheless, this was another indication of the times we live in....

At least my local library is still open, which is hardly the case all across the Wolverine State. Cie la vie.

Rebels on Lake Erie

2010-06-20T07:44:00.004-05:00

During the course of research for my current project, I discovered a slender book entitled Rebels on Lake Erie, a work by author Charles Frohman that was first published in 1965 by the Ohio Historical Society. Though still in print as a trade paperback, the original hardcover first edition appears rather scarce, and I really don't know if that edition included a dust jacket.

A review of the book from 1965 describes how the book "details the many plots formulated in the island regions of Canada and the United States to free the imprisoned 'flower of Southern manhood,', who could again take up arms under the stars and bars of the Confederacy."

The work had been serialized in the Sandusky Register in 1964 and early 1965 as part of the war's centennial and timed to coincide with the Confederacy's ill-fated raid on Johnson's Island on Sept 21, 1864. That island, which sits in Ohio's Sandusky Bay, is about a mile from the shoreline and was home to approximately 2500 Rebel POW's, mostly officers, from 1862-65.

Frohman's book also contains insights into the physical aspects of the prison, escapes, executions of both enemy and convicted Union troops by musket and the rope; the health and welfare of the prisoners; and the guard units. More than 30 rare drawings and photographs illustrate the 200-plus page volume. Also included are lists of Confederate dead buried in the island cemetery, a history of the island after the war, and poems by some of the 2500 men who at one time or another were imprisoned there.

The book reproduces a healthy dose of letters pertaining to the island and the rescue plots. A good starting point for those not familiar with the Confederate schemes to disrupt Great Lakes life that emanated from Canada.

New Interesting Auction Site for Booklovers

2010-06-13T06:55:00.002-05:00

If you're a booklover who buys or sells books via auction (think eBay), then you'll want to check out AntiquarianAuctions.com. The site was developed by Clarke’s Africana & Rare Books (ABA member) over the past five years during which time they've conducted over seventy successful online auctions.

Auctions are held every five weeks and run for a week at a time. They start and end at fixed times, extended time bidding avoids Ebay-type auction sniping. Booksellers upload their books to the auctions directly fully describing and illustrating them. Dealers sell under their own names and upon conclusion of the auctions they deal with the buyers directly: They are meeting new customers. There are no interfaces and no additional fees and commissions. Most important: There is no buyer's premium (premiums charged by auctioneers have grown steadily over the years and are now 25 % in some cases and should be challenged by the book trade).

Check out full article here.

Rare Book Dealers to Become Rarer

2010-05-27T15:37:00.002-05:00

More sad news on the road to the book apocalypse.... Check it out here.

Collectors of first editions of important books tended to be middle-aged men, according to Mr. Gekoski, and he was concerned that collectors would disappear. "I am very concerned that 20-year-olds, who are used to e-books and reading on iPhones, do not have a communal reading life," he said.

"Michigan In Letters" at Clarke Library

2010-05-26T15:11:00.004-05:00

John Fierst and Susan Powers of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University have created a blog titled Michigan in Letters. The goal of their blog is to transcribe selected documents from various collections in their library as well as to tell the story of how these documents relate to Michigan history.

One of the series they are currently working on relate to Orlando M. Poe, which I am pleased to share with you here and via the blogroll.

Jefferson Davis: American Patriot 1808-1861

2010-05-26T12:17:00.009-05:00

I recently picked up a first edition copy of this 1955 book while "booking" in upstate Michigan and it involved a pleasant surprise that all serious book collectors can appreciate. The book itself was in very nice condition for a 55-year-old book; crisp white pages, firm binding, nothing dog-eared, however the dust jacket was what you might expect. The white back panel was soiled while the brown spine was noticeably faded, plus there were the usual minor creases at the edges. Still, at $7, I figured I'd spring for it. However, while checking over the jacket one last time, I noticed what appeared to be a piece of paper lying underneath the jacket, yet almost attached. As I carefully started pealing away the worn top dust jacket, I realized that hiding underneath was a second, pristine dust jacket!

Dust jackets are folded onto the book by a machine that, in this case, simply grabbed two jackets in a manner not unlike a copier pulling through two pieces of paper. So for 55 years, while the outer jacket was taking the abuse, carefully preserved underneath it was a second jacket that is as factory fresh as the day it was made. Obviously that one went straight into a glassine jacket protector!

The book itself was authored by University of Alabama professor Hudson Strode (1892-1976) and represented the first of a three-volume trilogy on the life of Jefferson Davis. All three books were published by Harcourt Brace between the years of 1955 and 1964. This first volume covers all of his pre-Civil War life. In total, the three volumes were described in the Nevins-Robertson-Wiley bibliography as "ambitious and sympathetic" as well as "meticulously researched and well-written." Another contemporary review of the book described the author's style as "fascinating" and that "his revelation of the character and the personality of his subject is superb." This first volume is particularly interesting from the research end of things as the author was granted access to a large collection of family letters owned by Davis's grandson that had never before been seen by scholars.

I'll have to add this one to the "must read" pile and then start looking for the other two volumes, though I doubt I'll get as lucky with jackets!

Orlando M. Poe Book Discussion

2010-05-18T18:49:00.002-05:00

My "virtual booksigning" interview on March 27 at Chicago's Abraham Lincoln Bookshop with owner Daniel Weinberg has now been posted in four parts on their Recent Signings page.

These interviews and booksignings are initially presented live via webcam and offer the viewer an opportunity to ask questions and watch their book being signed; all while in their skivvies at home!

Is Book Collecting a Dying Hobby?

2010-05-04T18:54:00.006-05:00

That's the 64 million dollar question that's being asked by bibliophiles everywhere. Oh, it won't happen next month or next year, but perhaps at some point in the next decade, the question may become fully answered.

I had posted earlier on this but just discovered this recent essay that again discusses this very issue. A lot depends on how you view books in general. If you view a book as nothing more than a data repository, then one day Google Print will probably become all you need. On the other hand, if you view books as tangible, desirable artifacts that have an intrinsic value beyond mere words on a page, then they'll probably always hold a soft spot in one's psyche.

The jury is still out, but if and when the day comes that we start seeing an across the board decrease in collectible book prices, we'll then have our answer.

"I’m a book collector and I know a treasure when I see one. This book will be on my shelves until I die. Until recently we could say with complete confidence that it would then pass safely into the hands of another collector but unfortunately I’m not so sure. I love old books, and so do you, but the cosy old world of cosy old books is heading for a showdown, a title fight to the death that has already begun. A slick silicon upstart with warm electric blood is gunning for books and if it wins the war our lives will never be the same again. The story now is not bits from a bookshop; it’s bits from a computer, the bits and bytes that might well kill paper books forever."

Sleeper's Tenth Massachusetts Battery

2010-05-01T08:50:00.003-05:00

Back in January I posted on John Billings' seminal work about the common ACW soldier titled Hardtack and Coffee. In the course of research for that post, I learned that Billings had served in the 10th Massachusetts Battery and that he also authored the history of that unit. That book was begun in the 1870s and then initially appeared in 1881, six years before Hardtack.

Billings' unit history is titled The History of the Tenth Massachusetts Battery of Light Artillery in the War of the Rebellion and according to the Nevins-Robertson-Wiley bibliography, is considered to be "among the top dozen unit histories pertaining to the Civil War." His sources were about as good as it gets for the era, for he used his own wartime diary, about 300 letters, and a comrade's manuscript as the foundation for his work.

The battery served in the Army of the Potomac from August 1862 through the end of the war and in addition to the unit's movements, Billings paints a worthy portrait of soldier life, the countryside they moved in, and of the various officers. David Eicher opines in his bibliography that the best material "focuses on camp life outside Washington, the Antietam campaign, Brandy Station, and the Wilderness campaign."

The first edition was published in 1881 by Hall and Whiting in Boston. That is a highly collectible and pricey book as illustrated by the fact that I could find only a few copies for sale via the internet. The book was then reprinted in 1909 by the Arakelyan Press and was bound in reddish-orange cloth with gilt lettering on the spine and front panel.

More recently, Butternut and Blue reissued the book as a facsimile edition, though it now appears to be out of print.

Wow! More wonderful news

2010-04-28T09:44:00.002-05:00

In the past several weeks, I've learned of two more awards given to my biography of Union officer Orlando M. Poe.

The Chicago-based Society of Midland Authors has voted the book a Finalist in the Biography category for their 2009-2010 Awards Competition. According to their press release: "The Society, founded in 1915 by a group of authors including Hamlin Garland, Harriet Monroe and Vachel Lindsay, has given out annual awards since 1957. The juried competition is open to authors who live in, were born in, or have strong ties to Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota or Wisconsin. Notable winners in past years have included Saul Bellow, Studs Terkel, Gwendolyn Brooks, Mike Royko, Jane Smiley and Scott Turow."

Currently, the book is also a Finalist in the History category for ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award. The winners will be determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers selected from the magazine's readership. Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, as well as Editor's Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction will be announced at a special program at BookExpo America in New York City on May 26.

All very flattering, indeed.

This Would Never Happen Here, Right?

2010-04-26T22:02:00.003-05:00

The arguments are so bitter, precisely because the consequences are so small. Check it out.

"Prof Figes's critical comments are not unusually vitriolic by historians' standards. The benchmark in pugilistic fervour against which others are often compared is the 1960s dispute between Oxford dons Hugh Trevor-Roper and Lawrence Stone over the arcane matter of whether the English Civil War was caused by a fall (the Trevor-Roper theory) or rise (the Stone hypothesis) in the power of the gentry. The dispute dragged in numerous other famous historians, including R.H. Tawney and Geoffrey Elton."

Woman collects the pages of slavery’s imprint

2010-04-18T16:08:00.005-05:00

Interesting article about a woman who has collected historical newspapers; all with stories pertaining in some way to African-Americans and slavery.

Over the years, she says, she’s forgotten what she paid for many of the newspapers. She recalls one costing as little as $30, others so much more that she had to arrange to put them on layaway with the seller, often another collector.

“I’d pinch away a little bit from the bill-paying money and the grocery money,” said Mitchell, who lives with her two daughters, now 25 and 26, and her 4-year-old grandson. “There were times I didn’t go to the mall and buy a dress because I had some document on layaway.”

All of us with the collecting "bug" can relate.

Knoxville's Divided Loyalties

2010-04-14T20:58:00.007-05:00

This past Tuesday night I had the pleasure of speaking to the Knoxville Civil War Roundtable on Union engineer Orlando M. Poe, who is the subject of my newest book. Poe played an extremely important role in the East Tennessee campaign during the fall of 1863 and especially the subsequent siege of Knoxville, as he was the man responsible for overseeing design and construction of most of the sixteen Union forts and batteries that ringed the city. Most notable was Fort Sanders, which was the target of the climactic and failed Confederate assault on the morning of November 29, 1863.

Prior to the talk, I was driven around and shown several of the town’s few remaining Civil War sites, including the well-preserved Fort Dickerson on the south side of the Tennessee River. We also drove past the spot where the famous northwest bastion of Fort Sanders once stood. It’s in the middle of total development and other than a few nearby historical markers and a UDC monument, you’d never know anything was once there, though the lay of the land still shows the high ground it was on and therefore, its importance to the Union defensive effort.

All of this, of course, got me thinking about important books that pertain to the East Tennessee Campaign of 1863. I couldn’t recall any detailed battle studies and considering all of the untapped sources that have been uncovered over the past twenty-five years or so, it’s evident that this campaign could really use a modern strategic and tactical study. I’d be amazed if such a project is not in fact already underway somewhere…. By far, the best book that has been published is now close to fifty years old, and that would be Divided Loyalties: Fort Sanders and the Civil War in East Tennessee by Digby Gordon Seymour (1923 - ), who was a practicing anesthesiologist when the book was first published. The first edition was published by the University of Tennessee Press in 1963 as an oversized 8 ½ x 11” hardcover (see image). Because of its size, it is a difficult find in collector’s condition. The book contains scores of historical photographs of the campaign’s major players as well as historical and early 1960’s Knoxville. Maps are not in short supply either, including one invaluable two-page spread that superimposes the locations of all of the Civil War forts, batteries, and lines over a modern (1963) street map of Knoxville. It’s important to note that East Tennessee was hardly a bastion of Confederate loyalty during the war. Unionism was quite strong, especially in the more rural area though the city of Knoxville itself proudly wore the gray. Seymour does a fine job of delving into the social aspects of this dynamic as well as the military movements of the competing armies.

The book has been reprinted a couple of times and a 3rd edition is currently available in hardcover or paperback from the East Tennessee Historical Society. Some feel this is a preferred edition as it features photographs and maps not in any previous edition, though I’ve also heard that the photograph quality is not as good as the first edition.

Tuesday Night in Knoxville

2010-04-11T08:28:00.003-05:00

I will be speaking this coming Tuesday night, April 13, to the Knoxville (TN) Civil War Roundtable on Union officer and engineer Orlando M. Poe. Hopefully that afternoon I'll get to see a bit of what remains of Knoxville's Civil War heritage. Please stop by and say hello if you're in the area!

Amazon Launches Store for Rare Books

2010-04-09T18:09:00.000-05:00

Check it out here.

Identifying Civil War Medical Books

2010-04-02T06:31:00.000-05:00

Lincoln's Fifth Wheel

2010-03-30T20:20:00.007-05:00

I picked up a beautiful first edition of Lincoln's Fifth Wheel: The Political History of the U.S. Sanitary Commission this past weekend in Chicago while participating in a booksigning at the venerable Abraham Lincoln Bookshop. Not only a first, but the signed "Camp and Field Edition" that was autographed by the author (William Quentin Maxwell) for members of the Civil War Book Club. Even though serious collectors know that the phrase "book club edition" is to be generally avoided like the plague, these books were publishers trade editions in every sense, but then had the special signature leaf bound in.

The title takes its name from Lincoln's remark as to how he feared the U. S. Sanitary Commission would become the "fifth wheel to a coach" after he reluctantly signed the the order that made the commission an official government agency. Initially, the Sanitary Commission was to merely monitor the health and sanitary conditions of Union camps, but it soon found itself well out into the field. It served troops in camp, on hospital transports, and even up to the battle line. Allan Nevins (1890-1971), who wrote the Preface, writes that "in a nation that had no medical association, no nursing schools, no apparatus for meeting a sudden strain on hospital facilities, it mobilized the best talent available for the war emergency." In his Civil War bibliography, Nevins summarizes the work as a "a scholarly and comprehensive narrative, covering all aspects of the treatment of the sick."

The book was published in 1956 by Longmans, Green and Co., has a price of $5.00 on the front jacket flap, and states "First Edition" on the copyright page. With ample footnotes, bibliography and index, this book offers an important look into an organization that formed an integral and often overlooked part of the Union war effort.

President James Buchanan's Memoirs

2010-03-19T20:08:00.005-05:00

The Political Bookworm blog recently asked a number of past and present politicos to offer up their opinion of the least accurate political memoir ever written. While contemporary works get their fair share of raspberries, one Civil War-era memoir is suggested for the prize.

That book would be Mr. Buchanan's Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion, the presidential memoirs of James Buchanan, which was published in the U.S. by Appleton & Company in 1866. The true first edition however, appears to be the British edition, simply titled The Administration on the Eve of the Rebellion which was published in London by Sampson Low, Son, and Marston in 1865. The book was chosen by Douglas Brinkley, author and professor of history at Rice University. Brinkley writes that, "Buchanan had the gall to shirk all responsibility for the Civil War. He blamed everybody but himself for the dissolution of the Union. A pathetic memoir aimed at trying to exonerate himself from serial wrongheadedness and flatfooted policy initiatives. What Buchanan wrote was revisionist blather."

I admit to not being all that familiar with this book. From a book collector's perspective, American first editions do not seem to be all that common, yet on the other hand, not all that pricey either, despite being the first-ever published presidential memoir.

"Virtual" Booksigning in Chicago - March 27

2010-03-17T14:21:00.005-05:00

On Saturday, March 27 at noon, I'll be discussing and signing my new O. M. Poe biography at the Abraham Lincoln Bookshop's latest "virtual" booksigning. As their VBS website points out, "Virtual Book Signing™ provides the excitement of attending a booksigning, without having to leave your home. Sit on your couch in your pj's, sipping a margarita, and watch on the computer as your own book is signed. This is a true, 'real time' book signing. You are here virtually, watching an event unfold with you as a participant. You can interact with the author via email, order a book and watch it signed online. In a few days your book will arrive at your doorstep.... This new venture was introduced by Daniel Weinberg, an antiquarian book and autograph dealer, and proprietor of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago. 'Traditionally, book signings mean leaving home and then waiting in line in order to meet an author for a few seconds to get a book signed,' says Weinberg. 'Virtual Book Signing™ permits you to attend an in-shop booksiging without leaving home. You see an author speak via a streaming web cast. Then you may place an order and see the book signed while you watch.'”

Learn more in this Wall Street Journal article.

The shop has maintained an archive of their past signings if you want to get an idea of what they're like. If you're a collector of signed first editions, this might be right up your alley. Sounds like fun and I'm looking forward to it.

The (2nd) Most Expensive Civil War Book

2010-03-11T20:49:00.006-05:00

While doing some mindless book surfing through the internet the other night, I decided to find out what was the most expensive Civil War book currently offered for sale at AbeBooks (ABE). Using "Civil War" as a keyword search, I had to wade past all manner of antique prints, maps, artwork, manuscript material, etc., before finding my answer. Actually, the most expensive book offered was Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook, which I covered in a previous post.

After that, we get Cavalry Tactics, or Regulations for the Instruction, Formations and Movements of the Cavalry of the Army and Volunteers of the United States with an asking price of $8500. Admittedly, I've never heard of it, though I'm sure some of our cavalry experts have and perhaps can fill us in on its importance. (Eric?)

This copy is two volumes bound in one and is described as a good copy, in original condition. It is housed in a paper chemise and cloth slipcase within a pigskin slipcase. Further described as a Texas and Civil War rarity that bears a pencil inscription on the inside of the front wrapper: "D.F. Boyd, used in Confederate Army 1864." The book is described by the seller as "the rare Houston edition of the handbook of cavalry tactics that was used by both the Union and Confederate cavalry during the Civil War. It was written by Philip St. George Cooke, initially published in 1861, and then subsequently revised in 1862. The text is very thorough, covering all aspects of cavalry tactics and techniques. Cooke had a long military career, graduating from West Point in 1827, and he participated in the Black Hawk War and the Mexican War. He served as a U.S. Army observer during the Crimean War, and learned much about European cavalry tactics. He was a general in the Union Army during the Civil War, and is considered the father of the American cavalry. Interestingly, Cooke's son-in-law was Confederate Cavalry general J.E.B. Stuart, and Cooke's son, John Rogers Cooke, was a brigade commander in the Army of Northern Virginia. This very rare Houston edition was 'published by order of Lt. Gen. E. Kirby Smith, for the use of the cavalry of the Trans-Mississippi Department.'" If you're interested, see here.

Is There a Future for Book Collecting?

2010-03-10T13:36:00.003-05:00

As someone who considers himself an avid collector of first editions, new changes in technology along with simple demographics sometimes makes me wonder about the long term future of book collecting. I’ve noticed many times at book fairs that most of the crowd is by far and away over the age of 40, if not 50. Then there was a recent stat I saw that stated there were only a handful of member book dealers of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) who were under the age of 40. That blends in with comments from over the years by longtime Civil War booksellers I know who see their oldest (and best) customers now liquidating the libraries they built over a lifetime, but that there are no new, younger collectors to take their place.

The founder of Americana Exchange, Bruce McKinney, takes on this troublesome issue of how book collecting is to survive if there is no one to mentor younger generations which rarely spend much time with printed books. Meanwhile, book collectors clubs, which have served this purpose for at least two centuries, have seen their membership numbers plummet in recent decades. Then there are the economics of the times we live in. As one collector noted, “I have half the money, books cost twice as much, and there are four times as many of them on the market.” Is the writing on the wall?

Are You Missing Some Rare Civil War Books?

2010-03-07T13:05:00.003-05:00

If so, the New York Police Department would like to speak with you.

"In their search, police came across eleven Civil War books in excellent condition. Perhaps you or I would have assumed Ms. Kolompar was a Civil War book collector, but police are a suspicious lot. They assumed the heavily accented Romanian immigrant was a thief."

Check out the full story here.

700 Copies of the Same Book?

2010-03-02T20:43:00.003-05:00

Talk about yer obsession. Check it out here.

The Naval History of the Civil War

2010-02-26T22:28:00.005-05:00

David Dixon Porter (June 8, 1813 – February 13, 1891) was the son of Commodore David Porter, a hero of the War of 1812. D. Like his father, D. D. Porter chose a military career, initially becoming an 1833 graduate of West Point who then went on to serve in the Mexican-American War.

When the Civil War came about, he joined the Navy's Gulf Squadron in command of the USS Powhatan. Promotion soon followed including captaincy on February 7, 1863. Porter was well known for his role in the 1862 expedition up the Mississippi River against Confederate New Orleans, where he commanded 21 mortar boats and several steamers. He then commanded the Mississippi River Squadron during the Vicksburg Campaigns in 1862–63. Porter and his sailors were also active in the siege at Vicksburg which resulted in his promotion to rear admiral on July 4, 1863, the same day of the Confederate surrender at Vicksburg. His presence was again duly noted during the Red River Campaign in 1864 and 1865. In late March 1865, near the end of the war, Ulysses S. Grant invited President Abraham Lincoln to visit his headquarters at City Point, Virginia. William Sherman happened to come up to City Point from North Carolina at that time, with Porter also joining the group. As a result, Lincoln, Grant, Sherman, and Porter conferred together on the President's boat, the "River Queen." This four-way meeting is memorialized in the famous painting by George P.A. Healy, entitled The Peacemakers.

Porter was promoted to Vice Admiral in July 1866, and to Admiral on October 17, 1870. This made him the Navy's senior officer of the post-war era. His first assignment was Chief of the Bureau of Navigation of the U.S. Navy. From 1866 to 1870 he was Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy. In the post-war years, Porter wrote eight non-fiction books and novels. Most notable among them was The Naval History of the Civil War, a huge, oversized 843-page tome published in 1886 by the Sherman Publishing Co. of New York. The work is a straightforward, though obviously partisan chronological narrative of Union naval ops during the war. Considering the author’s rank and reputation, one would think the work would have the stamp of reliability, but that would apparently be an error. While the book is filled with a trove of interesting facts, official reports, tables, dozens of original engravings, and dramatic accounts of naval engagements, the book is also said to have numerous inaccuracies, especially with regards to the author’s recollection of dates and events. David Eicher reports in his bibliography (#11) that there “are many ambiguous references to names, a poor index, and numerous misspellings” nevertheless Eicher also writes that Porter’s book “shines with personal comments on commanders and battles in which Porter himself played a significant role.”

Considering the major and important role that Admiral Porter played in the conflict, the book is considered an early, important, and therefore collectible book on naval actions in the Civil War. Due to its sheer size and heft, most copies of the book have not worn well over the years, as such those in stellar condition will command a premium price.

Forget the Frat Party, There's Rare Books to Collect

2010-02-25T18:46:00.004-05:00

"While some college students are perfecting their beer pong, the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Assn. of America, the Fellowship of American Bibliophilic Societies, the Center for the Book and the Rare Books and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress are teaming up to tempt them into the field of rare book collecting." Full story here.

Quite understandable. It seems that most serious collectors of first editions are 40+ years of age, if not 50+. Go to any book fair and see what I mean.

Shadow Looms Over Google Books' Future

2010-02-06T20:21:00.004-05:00

The Daily Online Examiner reports the following:

In late 2008, the Department of Justice threatened to file an antitrust lawsuit against Google unless it backed out of a deal to power search ads for Yahoo. Google agreed to nix the deal, leaving Yahoo to form a partnership with Microsoft instead.

Now, the DOJ might be getting ready to again flex its muscle with Google, this time to force the company to abandon ambitious plans to publish out-of-print books. The authorities argue in court papers that a proposed lawsuit settlement allowing Google to digitize and sell "orphan works" -- books under copyright whose owners can't be found -- would give the company an unfair advantage over competitors.

The DOJ said it was committed to working with Google, authors and publishers to reach a new settlement agreement, but it's not clear that any resolution will satisfy everyone.

Settlement critic and New York Law School professor James Grimmelmann tells MediaPost he believes the DOJ will be troubled by any resolution that allows Google to publish out-of-print books. Instead, Grimmelmann thinks the feds will push for a settlement that allows Google to continue to scan and index such books, but not publish them.

For Google, however, the right to publish out-of-print books is central to its plan to create a new book registry. And in a larger sense, it's also in keeping with the company's mission "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

Despite the DOJ's position, Google, authors and publishers might not be all that eager to return to the bargaining table. Grimmelmann, for one, thinks it's more likely that they'll appear in court on Feb. 18 and make their case to U.S. District Court Denny Chin. "They parties don't have much to lose from presenting their motion for approval to Judge Chin," he says.

Meanwhile the Authors Guild is defending the settlement on its own blog. In a post titled "To RIAA Or Not To RIAA." the organization says it didn't want to risk litigating the key question in the case -- whether Google infringed on copyright by scanning books and displaying brief snippets -- because Google might have convinced the court that doing so was a fair use.

"If we'd lost, it would then be open season on scanning of your out-of-print and in-print books," the group wrote. "All one would need is a scanner and a friend with a little bit of technical knowledge to start displaying 'snippets' at your science fiction, humor, Civil War, or Harry Potter website."

Still, that scenario could happen even with the settlement. After all, Yahoo, Amazon or anyone else can scan and index books and, if sued, can argue that they had a fair use right to do so.

The organization also says that even had it won, the victory might not have amounted to much. "Copyright victories tend to be Pyrrhic in the digital age," the group said.

Of course, that raises the larger question of why the Authors Guild sued at all. If the purpose all along was to create a new book registry, perhaps the group would have made better use of its funds by lobbying Congress for new laws rather than forging a lawsuit settlement that might never meet with approval.

This Monday in Traverse City, MI

2010-02-05T07:33:00.003-05:00

I'll be giving a radio interview this coming Monday, Feb 8, at around 9:10am on the Ron Jolly Show (580AM) out of Traverse City, MI. Then from 1:00 to 3:00, I'll be at Horizon Books downtown signing copies of my new Orlando Poe biography. If you're a visitor to this blog and in the area, I'd love to meet you so please drop by and say hi.

The Battles of Appomattox & The Final Bivouac

2010-02-01T20:14:00.009-05:00

"Longtime Civil War historian Chris Calkins began looking for the lost battlefield of Appomattox Station in the early 1970s. Back then, he and many other Civil War buffs feared the site of the April 8, 1865 battle was buried somewhere under asphalt in the Town of Appomattox."

Thus begins this online article about how Calkin's dogged determination and Sherlock Holmes-like skills uncovered the site of the final battle at Appomattox that was then owned by a local trucking company and was in fact not commercially developed.

This wonderful story first appeared online at the Civil War Preservation Trust's website and can be read in full here.

As many serious students know, Chris Calkins is currently the park manager of Sailor’s Creek Battlefield State Park and a man who has devoted much of his adult life to studying the final days of the war in Virginia. He has written extensively on what transpired between Petersburg and Appomattox during the time of March 30 - April 9, 1865.

His first solo hardcover effort was The Battles of Appomattox Station and Appomattox Court House April 8-9, 1865. Published in 1987 when he was Park Historian at Petersburg, the 300-page tome was published by H. E. Howard Inc. as part of their uniform Virginia Civil War Battles and Leaders Series, which I discussed in a previous post. Calkins then issued a companion volume the following year titled The Final Bivouac: The Surrender Parade at Appomattox and the Disbanding of the Armies April 10 - May 20, 1865. That work vividly described the final surrender proceedings and then, for the first time ever as best I can tell, told the story of how the soldiers reacted to the news of Lincoln's death, featured accounts of the homeward bound Confederates as well as the northward bound Yankees.

Second and subsequent printings of these titles are probably easy finds, however as mentioned in that earlier post, finding a first edition of either of these titles, especially in the elusive white dust jacket may prove difficult. As you can see here, there is only one collectors copy of Final Bivouac currently offered for sale at ABE. As for The Battles of Appomattox Station, there is one first edition without jacket currently for sale, though second and later printings are plentiful.

Whether you are a collector or just want a reading copy, these two titles paint an excellent portrait of the final days of the war in Virginia.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2010-01-30T14:49:00.003-05:00

"He owes $14,000 in back rent, has $14 to his name, he's been out of work for two years, his landlord is evicting him, he agrees he should be tossed. He's got a rare book collection of 3,000 books worth, by his estimate, $1,000,000. What's wrong with this picture?

Irving Leif, 62, the Jersey City citizen whose story hit the Jersey papers the other day, we learn, is a graybeard trust-fund baby. Disbursements to him supplemented his income as Chief Information Officer for the state of New York's Department of Banking.

The chief missed, evidently, the info on banking and money.

Anytime a book collector is faced with a financial crisis the question arises, Should I sell my books? And most collectors will do anything they can to avoid deascensions for dollars or any other reason, particularly if, as Leif, you've spent forty years amassing the collection and insist that it be kept intact.

I have experienced a similar situation. The period 1988-1999 was one of great difficulty and there were times when I had to consider selling my books. It was a wrenching decision - and my collection was no where near the size or value of Leif's. I resisted, muddling along somehow, finding money someplace else, or just letting debt slide as I hunkered down in my house of books. The books comforted me; they were my friends. I think I also had the inchoate sense that to sell was to admit failure, not as a collector but as an adult. My self-worth was directly tied to the collection.

But there comes a time, and it came for me, when an extremely cold shower and hard slap are necessary to awaken dormant reality. The books have to go. It was, without over-dramatizing the situation, one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make. I made it and began to sell off, a few books at a time, the whole of my collection to a dealer I knew and trusted, William Dailey.

And then the most amazing thing happened: My life opened up. It was as if I had been clinging to a sinking rock to keep it (and myself) afloat. When I let go, I rose to the surface, alive and able to breathe.

I've become superstitious about establishing a new collection; I don't want to mess with karma. The comfort I feel amongst rare and antiquarian books is satisfied by my work in the trade; I'm surrounded by them. every day. I don't need to own them.

I know what Irving Leif is going through. But he has to go all the way through, sell some if not all of his books, and get on with his life before the books completely consume him. He is where no book collector should ever be: In that dark, fragile space where the Gentle Madness of book collecting that Nicholas Basbanes has written so well about gets overwhelmed out by full-blown bibliomania.

A potentially homeless person, dead broke yet with $1,000,000 worth of books. This is a psychopathology that needs to be addressed. Mr. Leif has the sympathy of book collectors all over the world; this is a very sad story. But only up to a point.

Mr. Leif could have been saving his trust fund money and living off his income. He could have carefully sold off some of his books when things began to get tight, rather than wait until crisis threatened all. In this, or any, economy, a 62 year-old out of work person faces a rough road toward another job. Downward employment mobility is no party but the world will not come to an end.

There is nothing noble about saving one's book collection at all costs. We admire the fool for love but not the idiot."

Original source here .

Historical Society of PA Going Digital

2010-01-28T21:13:00.002-05:00

Great news for researchers. "The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is launching a massive project to make its collections available online." Full story here. Looks like the Civil War stuff will go online first.

The Life of Isaac Ingalls Stevens

2010-01-24T12:04:00.007-05:00

By the time the Civil War started, Isaac Ingalls Stevens (1818-1862) had already lived quite a successful public life. At forty-three years old, the diminutive Stevens had served as a US Congressman as well as the first governor of the Washington Territory (1853-1857). His education had been obtained at West Point, where he graduated first in his class of 1839 and then went on to serve in the corps of engineers. During the 1846-48 war with Mexico, his bravery earned him several brevet promotions. Following the war, Stevens wrote a book about his exploits titled Campaigns of the Rio Grande and Mexico, with Notices of the Recent Work of Major Ripley (New York, 1851), which is a rare book in its own right.

Once the war came about, Stevens obtained a commission as colonel of the 79th New York Infantry, also famously known as the Cameron Highlanders, who were well known for wearing their Scottish kilts on dress parade (though not in battle). A promotion to brigadier general soon followed as did a transfer to the South Carolina coast where Stevens and his men took part in actions at Port Royal and James Island. He continued to climb the command ladder and by the time the battle of Secessionville took place, Stevens held division command. That command was transferred back to Virginia as part of the IX Corps under John Pope during the ill-fated Northern Virginia Campaign of 1862. On September 1, 1862, only two days following the Union disaster at Second Bull Run, Stevens was shot in the head and killed instantly while leading his men in a charge at the Battle of Chantilly. By that time, Stevens was considered to be one of the brightest stars in the Union officer corps. Following his death, he was posthumously promoted to major general effective as of July 1862.

Also present and wounded at the Battle of Chantilly was Stevens’s son, Hazard (1842-1918), who, like his father before him, was serving with the 79th New York. In the decades following the war, Hazard would set about writing his father’s biography, which was ultimately published in 1900 by Houghton Mifflin as a two-volume hardcover set. According to George H. Tweney, "In some respects, this is a somewhat biased account of the life of the first Territorial Governor of Washington Territory. It covers all details of Stevens' life, including his career in the Mexican War, as Commissioner of Indian Affairs and Governor, as Indian negotiator, explorer, railroad surveyor, and one of the principal figures in the settlement and growth of the northwest." On the other side of the coin, David Eicher writes in his Civil War bibliography (#583) that the work “draws on official documents, contains many excerpts of letters, focuses primarily on military matters, and maintains objectivity.” While that may be the case, the reader is almost two-thirds of the way through volume two before the Civil War commences.

The first edition was bound in heavy blue cloth with the spine lettering and top edge of the sheets in gold gilt. The title page and copyright page should both state 1900 as the year of publication. In conducting research for this post, I discovered the pictured copy, which is the only set I’ve ever seen in dust jacket. As all serious collectors will know, the presence of those jackets, though quite plain, will add substantial value to the set. This is the preeminent work on Stevens and written by one who was in position to know what we wrote of. An important work and desirable book for any collector of the Civil War or Pacific Northwest.

The John S. Copley Library at Sotheby's

2010-01-16T14:42:00.003-05:00

A preview sampling of the John S. Copley Library of original manuscripts, letters and paintings is on display through next Saturday at Sotheby’s, 1334 York Avenue, at 72nd Street, Manhattan; (212) 606-7000.

Included in the upcoming auction material are letters from Uncle Tom's Cabin author Harriet Beecher Stowe to an abolitionist colleague and a letter from a frustrated Lincoln to George McClellan dated May 25, 1862 (click picture).

Full article here.

How To Search Worldwide Book Auction Listings Instantly

2010-01-10T17:38:00.001-05:00

"Another year for book auctions is about to begin, which is a perfect time to remind everyone of the amazing search and informational tools the Americana Exchange provides for free. Auctions are an outstanding source for collectible books and ephemera, often at great prices, but only a small percentage of book collectors take advantage of the opportunity. They don't know how. AE is here to help."

Great article and online tool! Click here to read it in its entirety.

The Letters of Major General James E. B. Stuart

2010-01-10T11:48:00.005-05:00

Anyone coming to this blog or with a general interest in the Civil War will certainly know of Confederate cavalry general James Ewell Brown (“Jeb”) Stuart. Arguably the most famous horseman produced by the Civil War, Stuart served the Confederate army in the East with valor and even some controversy from the time of his promotion to brigadier general in 1861 up until his death at the battle of Yellow Tavern in May 1864.

"Jeb" Stuart has been the subject of no less than four biographies and numerous staff memoirs over the past 140 years with gallons of ink and countless trees turned into paper to tell of his various exploits. Therefore, as one of the most colorful and important generals in the Civil War, it might be considered surprising to see that Stuart’s personal letters were never published by a major publishing house or university press as was the case with any number of less important general officers. (This would not include the Letters of General J. E. B. Stuart to His Wife, 1861, a 30-page effort published by Emory University in 1943.)

The Letters of Major General James E. B. Stuart was published by the Stuart-Mosby Historical Society in 1990, four years after the society had published the letters of John Mosby. This venture resulted in a 1000-copy hardcover limited edition bound in blue cloth. The 400+ page book was edited by Adele H. Mitchell and featured an introduction by Stuart’s great grandson, J. E. B. Stuart IV. The work is divided into four sections: Stuart’s early years, as a cadet at West Point, on the western frontier, and wraps up with the Civil War years. Context and editorial annotations are scarce, all of which seems to give the book a vanity press or self-published feel. Nonetheless, it must be considered an integral primary source for anyone studying Stuart or the eastern theatre's cavalry operations. For the book collector, while not a difficult title to come by, it has clearly appreciated in secondary market value since it first appeared twenty years ago. You'll note that there are more than a handful of copies for sale via the internet.

The book was obviously deemed important enough to be included in In Taller Cotton: 200 More Important Confederate Books for the Reader, Researcher and Collector, which appeared in 2006. In it, the editors remark that Stuart’s letters “reveal the mixture of adolescent love of attention and hard-headed military ability that formed elemental parts of his personality. All serious students of Stuart’s career should read these letters with care.”

I've added a video link below that discusses Stuart's final days.

The Fall of J.E.B. Stuart - Civil War

A Brave New World for Book Auctions?

2010-01-04T20:39:00.002-05:00

"Yet it remains an uncomfortable truth that book auction prices have declined "irreversibly" 33% since 2007. The bubble burst in December of 2008, and those who bought in the years 2006-2008 will feel a degree of pain if they wish to sell; prices are not bouncing back.

But the market is righting itself. The far sighted will get back into the market now. And dealers who have yet to lower posted prices while they continue to sell at deep discounts will pay as confidence shifts to those who have the good sense to accept reality and post real-world prices.

I suspect that we'll start to see more more auction sales conducted in this manner in 2010. This was Bloomsbury's most successful sale ever, exceeding its prior record by 50%. That fact alone will open eyes, wide."

Interesting story about how Bloomsbury Auction House is adapting in these turbulent times. Buyers and sellers take note.

Hard Tack and Coffee

2010-01-03T10:48:00.008-05:00

As a jovial nod to our Civil War ancestors, and to my chosen avocation, I thought it might be humorous to celebrate the New Year with some hardtack and coffee, rather than hors d’oeuvres and bubbly. My wife was not amused nor impressed. So I decided the next best thing was to post about the famous book titled Hard Tack and Coffee; or, The Unwritten Story of Army Life.

Few titles are better known or cited more often than John Billings’ 1887 standard work about day-to-day life in the Union army as experienced by the common private. With so much ink and paper devoted to the ramblings and recollections of high ranking officers, this book stands as a wonderful comparison as to what life was like at the other end of the ladder. In a writing style that is homespun and conversational, Billings describes to the reader the more mundane aspects of camp life, such as how fireplaces were made, types of tents used, what picket duty and marches were like, as well as the ingenuity of the common soldier.

According to findagrave.com, Billings was born in Canton, Massachusetts [in 1842], a few miles outside Boston, where he was trained as a mechanic in his father's workshop. He was eighteen years old when war broke out in 1861, however his father refused to let him enlist until the summer of 1862, when he was given permission to join the 10th Massachusetts Artillery. Joining as a private, he was promoted to corporal in 1864. After he mustered out in 1865, Billings taught school in small towns around Boston for over 60 years before retiring in 1926. Though teaching was his formal profession, the Civil War became his avocation. He joined several veterans organizations after the end of the war, and in the 1870s began writing a comprehensive history of his unit, relying on his diary and close to three hundred letters that he had written to his parents during the war. The resulting book, The History of the Tenth Massachusetts Battery is considered one of the best sources of information about what life was like in the Army of the Potomac.

In 1881, while vacationing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, he spent the evenings at his hotel with several other Union veterans telling a group of boys about the mundane details of military life. Realizing that there was no book about these minor details of life in the Army during the Civil War, he decided to write his own book on the subject. The subsequent work became Hard Tack and Coffee, and recorded the daily routine and common experience of the soldiers, often thought to be of no interest by the veterans themselves. Many historians consider this book one of the most important books written about the war, since it captured the routine and minor facts of daily life during the war, providing a detailed look of the ordinary soldier. Hard Tack and Coffee proved to be a best seller and has been reprinted eight times, continuing to be one of the best books about the common soldier on that war. Billings died in Belmont, Massachusetts in 1933 at the age of ninety. The rank of Colonel on his grave marker is an honorary rank bestowed on him for his books and contributions to veterans after the war.

Reviews and criticism were universally positive. Nevins described the work as “The best source for the army life and feelings of a Federal soldier; this delightfully written and humorously illustrated work has rightfully become a classic.”

The first edition was published in 1887 by George M. Smith and Co. of Boston and featured six color plates along with over 200 drawings. Bound in brown cloth, it offered gilt lettering on the spine and cover though the cover image was printed in black. It is not a rare book in the first edition though, of course, condition will play the biggest role in the asking price. It has also been reprinted many times making reading copies plentiful. Regardless of one’s budget, this is a classic that belongs in every Civil War library.

Are avid book collectors a dying species?

2009-12-18T21:14:00.003-05:00

"There are currently fewer than ten members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) under the age of forty. It's one of the dark jokes about the rare book trade that rare book shops are where old books go to die. In Korea it's becoming a reality."

Bartlett's Literature of the Rebellion

2009-12-18T19:59:00.009-05:00

When I posted a week ago about John Page Nicholson's 1914 Civil War bibliography, I felt it might have been the first book of its type ever published. Boy, was I wrong. The true granddaddy of all such books has to be John Russell Bartlett's Literature of the Rebellion: A Catalogue of Books and Pamphlets Relating to the Civil War in the United States which first appeared in 1866, only a year after the war ended.

This hardbound book was fully cloth bound, published in Boston by Draper & Halliday, and clocked in at 477 pages. Like most obscure reference books, it was a very limited edition as it was printed in a total run of only 310 copies: 250 in royal octavo (roughly 6" x 9") and 60 copies in quarto (roughly 9 1/2" x 12") .

Barlett's book was the first and still one of the most comprehensive bibliographies on the literature of the American Civil War. Because of this, and as with the Nicholson book, Martino Publishers reprinted the book in recent years. It also still appears to be available direct from them at $65. Included are 6073 printed items divided into the following categories: 1] Books and pamphlets relating to the Rebellion and to related topics published anywhere, 2] Congressional reports and speeches etc., 3] Official publications of the several States covering the period of the war, 4] Official publications of the British government relating to the War, 5] Works on American Slavery, and several other headings. It's also available online at Google Print. This one looks like it might be indispensable for researchers seeking those obscure nineteenth-century pamphlets pertaining to the "Late Unpleasantness."

Good News

2009-12-12T15:36:00.004-05:00

I've just learned that my new biography of Orlando M. Poe (pictured at upper left corner) has been selected by the Library of Michigan as a recipient of their 2010 Michigan Notable Books award. According to their website and press release, they review anywhere from 250 to 400 titles "published in the previous calendar year that are about, or set in, Michigan or the Great Lakes region, or are written by a Michigan author." From those, they then select "up to 20 recommended books reflecting Michigan's rich cultural heritage." This is my first award and, obviously, I am quite honored.

The Library of Lieutenant Colonel John Page Nicholson

2009-12-11T19:10:00.008-05:00

I love reference bibliographies because, as both an author and book collector, they always provide the bibliographic answers that I'm seeking. As I've opined on more than one occasion, "books about books" are at the core of any bibliophile's collection or author's working library.

Thus it's always a pleasant surprise when I discover one that had previously slipped under the radar - and that's exactly what happened this past week when I learned of the Catalogue of the Library of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel John Page Nicholson: Relating to the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866.

This exceedingly rare book was privately printed in 1914 and limited to only 300 numbered copies. To the best of my knowledge, it can be considered one of the grandfathers of all Civil War bibliographies as it lists over 7,500 titles, all published prior to 1900. Newman and Long described the book in their A Basic Civil War Library: A Bibliographic Essay as "The most comprehensive bibliography of Civil War books before 1900." Nicholson did even more than that. He indicated the number of copies printed and listed the many variant printings in his "catalogue," which runs to a very hefty 1022 pages.

In addition, a review of the book in the April 1915 issue of Pennsylvania magazine stated, "No more important or valuable contribution to the literature of the War of the Rebellion has been published, than the catalogue of the library of Colonel Nicholson, comprising books, manuscripts, pamphlets, and excerpts, which are serviceably and handsomely bound." Most of Nicholson's books ultimately went to the Henry E. Huntington Library in 1927.

During the Civil War John Page Nicholson served as regimental quartermaster with the 28th Pennsylvania throughout Sherman's March to the Sea. He began building his great library as soon as the war ended in 1865 with much of his success in creating so vast a library being due to the ceaseless assistance of his many soldier friends. Though almost a century old, this work clearly retains great value as it contains information on limited printings not found elsewhere.

Fortunately for those of us of more modest means, the book was reprinted in 1995 by Martino Publishing of Mansfield, Connecticut in a very limited edition of only 150 copies (pictured). Though it appears to be sold out at the publisher, copies are available in the secondary market. For those interested only in the data, it is also available online at Google Print.

Just a Little Short of Cash for This One...

2009-12-06T09:36:00.004-05:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An 1827 first edition copy of poems by Edgar Allan Poe sold for $662,500 on Friday setting a record for a 19th century book of poetry, said a spokeswoman for Christie's auction house.

"Tamerlane and Other Poems," Poe's first book as an author, was sold to an unidentified American collector. Only a dozen copies of the book exist from that first edition, said Jessie Edelman of Christie's. Full story here.

What's In Your Bathroom?

2009-12-02T19:00:00.006-05:00

According to the BBC, a first edition of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, which was kept in a toilet in Oxfordshire, has sold for nearly twice the expected price.

The book was bought at Christie's Auction House for £103,250 ($172,242). It was expected to reach £60,000.

The book was kept on a bookcase in a guest lavatory at the owner's family home in Oxfordshire.

It was sold on the 150th anniversary of its publication. Just 1,250 copies of the work were produced in 1859.

The revolutionary scientific work, which has the full title On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, had the original publisher's green cloth cover and gilt-decorated spine.

Christie's described the book, that was bought about 40 years ago in a West Country shop for a few shillings, as "lightly bumped" around the corners.

The Battle of Franklin

2009-12-01T19:23:00.011-05:00

Yesterday was the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin (Tenn.), one of the opening salvos ultimately leading to the virtual destruction of the Confederacy's Army of Tennessee. This battle in particular and Hood's Tennessee Campaign in general have received copious treatment over the decades, from General Jacob Cox's 1897 The Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, November 30, 1864 to the more recent Embrace an Angry Wind: The Confederacy's Last Hurrah, written by Wiley Sword and published in 1992.

One of the more obscure monographs on the battle and certainly one of the priciest from the collectors perspective is The Battle of Franklin, November 30, 1864, The Bloodiest Engagement of the War Between the States by Robert Webb Banks (1843-1919) and published in 1908. Banks was enrolled at the University of Alabama when the war broke out but he left after Shiloh and joined the Confederate army as a private, ultimately rising to the rank of captain with the 37th Mississippi Infantry by the time of this battle. Just how pricey is this book? The few first editions offered through the internet are currently commanding asking prices well over $500. In my opinion, its demand and value stem almost solely from the fact that it is a Neale book. And at only 88 pages long, it's probably the thinnest hardcover ever published on this engagement and one whose focus is certainly quite narrow. The title is a bit of a misnomer, as the book focuses on a small segment of the battle in which the book's author took part. In fact, in C. E. Dornbusch's Military Bibliography of the Civil War, this title shows up under the 37th Mississippi rather than as a source pertaining to the Franklin battle.

The Neale bibliography notes that Confederate Veteran reported in 1911 that they had bought up all remaining stock for resale and for promotional use. Morningside Bookshop reprinted the book in 1988 in a limited edition of 500 copies and is easily obtainable today.

Pictured copy offered here.

Thanksgiving Day

2009-11-26T11:10:00.004-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all - after all the food, football and naps, it's a day whose history is mired in controversy. Here's a brand new work that attempts to set the record straight.

"In this, the first in-depth study of the most American of holidays, James Baker sweeps away lingering myths and misconceptions to show how this celebration day was born and grew to be an essential part of our national spirit. Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday opens with an overview of the popular mythos of the holiday before discussing its possible religious and cultural precedents. This classic Yankee holiday is examined in historical and contemporary detail that embraces everything from proclamations, sermons, and local and regional traditions to family reunions, turkey dinners, and recipes. Thanksgiving's evolving face is illustrated with charming and often revealing period prints that chart our changing attitudes: the influence of Victorian sentiment in Thanksgiving's development, Progressive utilitarianism, intellectual "debunking," patriotic wartime reclamation, and 1960s-era protest. Thanksgiving remains controversial up to the present day, as Mayflower descendants, Native Americans, and commercial exploiters compete for the American public's opinion of the holiday's contemporary significance and its future status. This is an intelligent and illuminating introduction to a beloved holiday and a fascinating cultural history of America and Americana."

Below: Alfred Waud Thanksgiving sketch of Union soldiers in camp.

Gone With The Wind "Ultimate Collectors Edition"

2009-11-22T19:15:00.005-05:00

This post briefly takes us from the world of books and into DVD's with the recent release of the Ultimate Collectors Edition of Gone With the Wind, David O. Selznick's four-hour epic of the Old South that, to this day, is adored by some and villified by others. In addition to the film, the set also includes eight hours of bonus features.

As Bruce Dancis writes in this Seattle Times review of the new Blu-Ray DVD release, "The enduring popularity of Gone With the Wind is based on many things: Scarlett's fearless will to survive, the complicated love story of Scarlett and Rhett, the epic sweep of the film's historical storytelling, the beauty of its production values and its eternal themes of suffering, resilience and hope.
At its core, the essence of 'GWTW' is its fond remembrance of a social order that no longer exists, just as the Confederate flag remains a symbol of gallantry and pride to some white Southerners. Yet for others, this most famous of American movies represents nothing less than a celebration of the worst aspects of our country's history and the triumph of racial prejudice over fairness, decency and equality."

As they say, "beauty is in eye of the beholder." But I'll bet that Jubal Early would have LOVED this film.

The Rare Book World is Teeming With Thieves

2009-11-17T19:44:00.002-05:00

"The Man Who Loved Books Too Much." Bartlett. Riverhead. $24.95.

"This is the biography of John Charles Gilkey, internationally known thief of books - rare books. This book will keep you up very late at night." Full article here.

I wonder if he ever pinched any Civil War books?