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With Sword and Pen
A Celebration of First Edition
and Collectible Books Pertaining
to "The Late Unpleasantness"
August 14, 2007
Dear Friends and Visitors,
As of today, this blog has relocated to here, where you'll find a "proper" blog! Please bookmark the new page!
August 10, 2007 - NEW LIMITED HARDCOVER
Hat tip to Dimitri Rotov for pointing out a new book that will, for the first time ever, present in English scores of letters and commentary from Welsh soldiers who served in the ACW and wrote home in their native tongue.
This one sounds similar in concept to the recent Germans in the Civil War: The Letters They Wrote Home. The Welsh book is pricey. $35 suggested retail for a paperback while a small print run hardcover edition is also available at $85 for those collectors so inclined.
August 8, 2007 - THE $3, 15-MINUTE P.O.D.
BOOK
The New York Times has run a story about a new device that will create a print-on-demand book in 15 minutes and at a cost of about 3 bucks. Let's call it the latte book machine.
"But think what this means," said Dane Neller, a partner of On Demand Books. "It's not just bookstores and libraries. This is small. It could go into a Kinko's, or a coffee shop, or a hotel or a hospital or a cruise ship."
AOL News noted in a follow up article how "this machine would be particularly useful for rare books, out-of-print titles and limited-run novels."
Such devices will only further expand the availability of data once lost to rare books, with a side effect being the further depression of prices those titles once commanded. I also predict it will further weaken the market for well-crafted hardcover reprints of ACW classics such as those created by Morningside.
August 6, 2007 - NEALE BOOKS
One of a publisher's ultimate dreams has to be the creation of a line of books that one day are actively sought by bibliophiles based solely on the imprint he/she created, if for no other reason. Few small publishing houses achieve such immortality. In the realm of dark fantasy, Arkham House comes readily to mind while the Limited Editions Club, among others, is well-known in the literary world.
Most seasoned Civil War book collectors will immediately recognize the term "Neale Book." Between the years 1896 and 1920, Walter Neale published close to 570 books, including ninety that are among the most recognizable and desirable Civil War books in existence. Such cornerstone classics include Recollections of a Confederate Staff Officer by Longstreet's chief of staff, Gen. Moxley Sorrell; The War Between the Union and Confederacy by William C. Oates, the colonel of the 15th Alabama, and One of Jackson's Foot Cavalry by John Worsham. Pictured below is the title page and frontis for Oliver Norton's Attack and Defense of Little Round Top. All of these early 20th-century titles as well as numerous others routinely command asking prices at $400 and higher for first edition copies in premium condition. If the oh-so rare dust jacket is also present and untorn, look for the price to soar closer to $1000.
Neale was staunchly sympathetic to Confederate beliefs as illustrated by the fact that his Confederate titles outnumbered Union ones by a five to one margin. To Neale, the war was "one of romance" and that his Confederate titles had helped to "clarify the atmosphere." Had it not been for his efforts, the South's views and military accomplishments would "have had but a small part in recorded history." Even those lesser fiction and poetry titles have retained some intrinsic, collectable value simply by being recognized as a Neale book. Any Civil War library worth its salt will surely house titles that were originally published under The Neale Company imprint.
Such was the impact of this publishing house that historian Robert K. Krick published a bibliography of the Neale titles in 1977. Simply titled Neale Books: An Annotated Bibliography, the author lists all known Neale books in alphabetical order by author. Full bibliographic particulars are given as well as a brief synopsis of each title. Reproductions of title pages from key volumes are also liberally sprinkled throughout the text. This title is still available from Morningside House at the published price of $25 and is a must-have reference work for any Civil War book collector.
July 31, 2007 - FLORIDA & THE CIVIL WAR
The Civil War in Florida has always been my first love in ACW studies, as illustrated by my first book, Discovering the Civil War in Florida: A Reader and Guide. Even as a complete novice working on his first project, it didn't take long for me to realize that very few historical works existed which focused on "the smallest tadpole in the pool of secession."
Those that did were exceedingly rare and expensive in the first edition. Two of the best known are Dickison and His Men by Mary Elizabeth Dickison and The Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida by William Watson Davis.
In the case of Dickison, the book tells the tale of Captain John J. Dickison and his 2nd Florida Cavalry, CSA. The book's by-line states that it was written by the subject's wife, though modern historians tend to agree that Dickison, known to the Yankees as "Dixie" or the "Swamp Fox," was at the helm. According to one Florida newspaper, he was without a doubt the most conspicuous soldier Florida sent into the war. His command never left Florida and served that state in a fashion similar to Mosby's Rangers in northern Virginia.
The first edition was published in 1890 by the Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky and featured brown cloth boards stamped in gilt measuring 5 ½" x 8 1/2." Civil War Books described the work as "a poorly organized but splendid picture of the almost unknown Florida campaigns." Of particular interest are twelve original woodcuts that have become standard fare when seeking illustrations on the war in Florida.
The book can be had if one is willing to pay the price. Currently, first editions in collector's condition will fetch in the $500 range. A reasonable alternative is a facsimile edition published in 1984 by the San Marco Bookstore of Jacksonville, Florida.
Davis's work is considered the first scholarly look at Florida's role in the war though it's also generally deemed to be now outdated. Published in 1913 by Columbia University, this fat tome clocks in at a hefty 769 pages. Its size makes finding a copy in fine condition a difficult task plus the book's paper is of poor quality. My copy is bound in brown cloth with gilt lettering on the spine though I've also seen first editions bound in dark green cloth.
It is also a pricey book. Be prepared to pay $500 to $750 for a fine first edition, though like the Dickison book, a modern facsimile reprint exists which can generally be had for under $100.
July 30, 2007 - "PLENTY OF BLAME TO GO AROUND"
One type of collectible Civil War book that you don't see too often is the modern limited edition. Such signed and numbered creatures are usually found in literary and genre fiction, nevertheless our first title fits the bill nicely and is a first-rate scholarly work as well. I'm talking about Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg by Eric Wittenberg and J. D. Petruzzi. Published in 2006 by Savas Beatie to critical acclaim, many readers may not be aware that a 50-copy limited edition was produced as well.
According to J. D., "the edition is called the Signed and Numbered Special Gettysburg Edition, and contains a beautiful book plate inside the front cover. the plate has a gloss black background and is signed in silver ink by Eric, myself, and Mark Grimsley (who wrote the Foreward). The edition was limited to only 50 copies. Booksellers are already selling the edition for more than our current price - over $100 in some cases that we're aware of."
J. D. further notes that as of this past February, only five copies were left. Hurry if you're interested because due to the small limitation, this one's value should only go up.
July 26, 2007
I consider myself to be an avid collector of Civil War first editions and as far as my lovely wife is concerned, I'm also affected with a mild case of bibliomania, aka "the gentle madness." This blog will offer commentary and discussion targeted at similarly afflicted collectors of 19th and early-to-mid 20th-century Civil War titles. Book values, points, variant and limited editions, fine press, dust jackets, as well as the current state and future of Civil War book collecting will all be fair game once we get this page up and running.
For the time being, updates will be on this page rather than in traditional blog format. Comments are encouraged (and hoped for!) and may be sent to pandmtaylor@hotmail.com. Hope to hear from you!
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