George S. MacManus Co.

I'm back from a several day business trip to the Philadelphia area which included a side trip to Gettysburg on the front end and a visit to the absolutely amazing George S. MacManus Co. (est. 1937) bookstore at the very back end. In between, it was a non-stop Phillies Phever feeding frenzy. Since Tampa Bay was the American League rep, which is where my Detroit Tigers are stationed, and since I lived in Florida for most of my life, well, you can imagine who I was silently rooting for. Needless to say, I laid low in the sports bar on Wednesday night.

The trip to the MacManus shop was simply breathtaking. Never in my life have I seen such quantity and quality of rare Civil War books within the walls of one shop. As is mentioned in their current Civil War catalogue, MacManus acquired a significant portion of the inventory of the famous Chapel Hill Rare Books when its owner, Douglas O'Dell, passed away last year. Much of that stock has now been incorporated into their own offerings. 19th-century regimentals in pristine condition filled an entire bookcase. Multiple copies of scarce and rare Neale titles, some in jacket. Fine first editions from the 1940's and 1950's, all in crisp dust jackets. I could go on and on. I ended up digging deep into my pocket to buy a beautiful first edition 2-volume set of The Long Arm of Lee in the original slipcase. It was the only one of the four first edition sets in stock that had the slipcase.

I make it to Philly about three times a year for business purposes. This shop will be a standard stop going forward. Civil War bibliophiles visiting the City of Brotherly Love should do likewise. But be forewarned - this store can be dangerous to the thickness of one's wallet! :-)

McCain and Obama Share Their Favorite Books

From The Christian Science Monitor 10/29/2008 -

"It’s not the first question they generally toss out to presidential candidates, but Katie Couric finally got around to it and asked John McCain and Barack Obama to name their favorite books.

Their choices are illuminating – and yet at the same time completely unsurprising.

Both candidates stuck with American classics, although of different generations. McCain says his favorite book is Ernest Hemingway’s 1940 Spanish civil war novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Barack Obama’s favorite is Toni Morrison’s 1977 novel “Song of Solomon.”

The appeal of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” for McCain is easy to understand. Robert Jordan, the protagonist, is an American fighting on the side of the Republicans in Spain. The mission he is sent on, to blow up a bridge, is a doomed one, but Jordan’s greatest fear is being captured and tortured by the enemy. The horrors of war and the intense camaraderie of wartime are major themes throughout the book. Interestingly, there are also occasional discussions of politics and even (at least once) taxes.

“But are there not many fascists in your country?” one of the Republican fighters asks Jordan. “There are many who do not know they are fascists but will find it out when the time comes,” he replies.

Obama’s attraction to “Song of Solomon” is equally easy to understand. The book is the life story of an African-American man named Macon “Milkman” Dead III, set during the 1950s and ’60s.

The narrative weaves together the points of view of various members of Milkman’s family. It touches on themes of identity, family relationships, the rootlessness of African-Americans who live in northern cities, and the effects of slavery. Part of Milkman’s quest is his search for connection to a community. “It was a good feeling to come into a strange town and find a stranger who knew your people,” he thinks at one point. “All his life he’d heard the tremor in the word: ‘I live here, but my people . . .’ or: ‘She acts like she ain’t got no people,’ or: ‘Do any of your people like there?’ But he hadn’t known what it meant: links.”

Two very different books – chosen by men with two very different world views."

My Visit to the Gettysburg VC

Much ink has been spilled over the past several months regarding the new Gettysburg Visitors Center and whether or not it has lived up to what different folks feel it should be. Based on what I’ve read, most of the commentary has been negative, especially in the pages of Civil War News with much of the opinion being that there is too much focus on slavery and “context” and not enough space devoted to the displaying of the artifact-rich Rosensteel Collection.

I have also weighed in on the slavery and context issues but not having seen the new VC, I based my general observations on those battlefields and museums I have visited, along with some of the commentary from the NPS. So needless to say, I was ready to give the Gettysburg VC a stern once-over when I had the opportunity to visit it this past Monday. I admit that I had visions of political correctness run amok and was already preparing for a scathing review.

Well, it’s not going to happen. Color me suitably impressed with what I saw and let me tell you why. First off, I’m not a ballistics or weapons guy. I don’t know the differences between revolver A and B or the nuances of one sword manufacturer versus another. Therefore, the half-dozen or so glass cases of various weaponry were more than adequate for me.

I should point out that the one-fee-for-everything including admission is now in effect. I paid $7.50 for admittance to the museum, Cyclorama painting, and the 22-minute film entitled “New Birth of Freedom.” I found that film to be an excellent introduction. Yes, it starts off by discussing slavery and how it shaped the war, yet by my watch, over half the film was still devoted to the battle of Gettysburg. The museum, by the way, is officially named the “Gettysburg Museum of the American Civil War.” Like the film, it delves into the causes of the war as well as the war as a whole, nevertheless much of the museum is still devoted to the battle.

As for the bookstore/gift shop, there were far more books than I was expecting. Every major Gettysburg book I could think of from the past ten years or so was in stock, including the major offerings from authors such as Sears, Pfanz, Reardon, Wert, Wittenberg-Petruzzi, etc. Not only Gettysburg-oriented, but plenty of other battles, Union bios, Confederate bios, and every social aspect of the war including women, slavery, memoirs, etc. In addition, I was surprised to see quite a few long OP titles from Kessinger Publishers, which specializes in print-on-demand reprints of much older titles.

Regarding the debate as to how the VC was sold compared to what it is, well, I am simply not well-versed enough on those past promises to offer an educated opinion.

As for demographics, I’d say the mix of visitors was pretty evenly split between male and female, with average age definitely 40+, though there were several charter tours of high school/college age kids. I did not see any persons of color anywhere in the Visitors Center or during my audio tour of the battlefield. As I've written before, African-Americans as a group may simply have little interest in the American Civil War, regardless of how much "context" the NPS throws at the issue.

All in all, I was quite impressed with the new VC. Ample room, ample parking, good interpretation with plenty of focus on the core topic but just the right amount of context to aid the novice.

Off to the Gettysburg VC

I'm heading to southeast Pennsylvania for a several-day business trip, however I'm also leaving a day earlier than necessary so that I can take a side trip to Gettysburg. My intent is to do a thorough visit to the new Gettysburg Visitors Center and see first-hand what all the hubbub is about. I'll post my comments mid-week.

Andover, Ma. in the Civil War

Here's another small press, regional item just uncovered. This 128-page paperback book is titled Andover in the Civil War: The Spirit and Sacrifice of a New England Town and is authored by Joan Patrakis ($21.99, Historical Press). It discusses how Andover responded to the Civil War and how everyday folks were affected by it.

Her research shows that the Andover Light Infantry was the military company formed in Andover at the start of the Civil War. It was sent to Fort Warren on Georges Island, Boston, where it was mustered into the 14th Massachusetts Regiment as Company H. From Fort Warren, the 14th Regiment was sent off to the Virginia war front. The 14th regiment's assignment at the war front was to guard the city of Washington. For 2 1/2 years the Andover boys were assigned to the forts in Virginia. Company H, Andover, was one of 10 companies from the towns of Essex County that made up the 14th Massachusetts Regiment. The 14th Mass. Regiment eventually was designated as the 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery.

Full online article here. It appears the author will have a discussion and signing October 29 for anyone in the Massachusetts area who would like a signed copy.

The Long Arm of Lee

If you have a penchant for Confederate artillery operations, then The Long Arm of Lee: The History of the Artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia by Jennings Cropper Wise is clearly the book to own. This standard work was originally published in 1915 by J. P. Bell of Lynchburg, Va. as a two-volume set, when Wise was commandant of the Virginia Military Institute and a skilled artillerist in his own right. He was also a lawyer and a grandson of a former governor of Virginia.

The Long Arm of Lee has never been surpassed as an authoritative study of the Confederate artillery in the Civil War. Nevins refers to it as “an exhaustive valuable study, often consulted and widely quoted.” Eicher’s Civil War in Books also heaps considerable praise, referring to it as “a book that after [90] years still dominates others on the topic,” while Douglas Freeman in his South to Posterity noted that Long Arm contained “many photographs not to be found elsewhere.” Volume I describes the organization and tactics of the field batteries of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and their performance in famous battles, including those at Bull Run, Malvern Hill, Cedar Mountain, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg. It ends with the bitter winter interlude before the Chancellorsville campaign of the spring of 1863. Volume 2 of Wise's history, also in print as a Bison Book, takes up the harrowing events stretching from Chancellorsville to Appomattox. In his introduction to this newer reprint, historian Gary W. Gallagher addresses some of the myths exposed by Wise, touching on the persistent under-estimation of the artillery's role in winning battles.

First editions are obviously pricey. They were originally bound in red cloth and though I’m not 100% certain, I think they came housed in a slipcase. The book has also become quite scarce. In fact, bookseller Dave Zullo reports in his latest catalog that “most of the original 1915 editions were destroyed in a fire and most of the remaining unbound books were sold to Barnes and Noble.” Based on copies currently for sale on the internet, it appears that these later-bound “first editions” can be ascertained by “Barnes and Noble” being stamped at the base of the spine whereas the true firsts have "Bell Publishing Co." and an illustration of Lee on the spine.

The book is also available for reading online at Google Print.

Book TV - "The Slaves' War: The Civil War in the Words of Former Slaves"