Special Fall Book Sale!!

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 I partnered with Deep Wood Press of Mancelona, Michigan on this one to create a slender volume of previously unpublished Civil War letters in a very limited edition of only 100 copies.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.

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

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"

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

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

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?

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!