Robert E. Lee, Gentleman & George McClellan, Jerk

by Stephen J. Gertz

Two signed autograph letters by the American Civil War's commanding generals, Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army and George B. McClellan, commander of the Union Army at the war's onset, are coming to auction at Swann Galleries Autograph sale, November 26, 2013.

The Lee letter, dated March 13, 1855
, is estimated to sell for $25,000-$35,000. The McClellan letter, composed May 14, 1854, is estimated for $100-$200. Both were written to Captain George W. Callum (1809-1892), a supervisor in the Corps of Engineers and instructor of engineering at West Point.

Each is indicative of their personalities. Lee is humble and gracious; McClellan is stilted, egotistical, and condescending, deigning to accept an offer.

Lee, a colonel at the time and Superintendent of West Point, expresses regret at his departure from the Corps of Engineers to accept an appointment as Lt. Colonel of the 2nd Cavalry, stating his preference for Engineer duty to that of Cavalry during peacetime, and remarking on West Point business including his assurance to Callum that he will continue his work on the Register of [the Officers and] Graduates.

...I assure you my separation from the Corps of Engrs is attended with bitter regret…


While acknowledging the compliment bestowed on me by the Pres: as unexpected as undeserved, I confess my preference in time of peace for Engr duty over that of Cavalry; But so long as I continue an Officer of the Army, I can neither decline promotion or service...


...The item introduced into my estimate for the Register of Graduates has been granted. I shall give to my successor your Mem: & inform him of our understanding as to your undertaking its preparation…


"Mr. Newlands has not yet been able to finish the record of changes in the Register he loaned us. I will endeavor to have it completed and returned to you before I leave...

I am as yours,

REL

McClellan, then a lieutenant and writing from Philadelphia, was bored to tears with peacetime service. He commanded an engineering company while serving at West Point. In 1853, at the behest of Jefferson Davis, then U.S. Secretary of War, he was assigned to survey an appropriate route for the nascent transcontinental railway. He flubbed the job, overlooking three hugely superior routes. He was insubordinate to political figures: when the governor of the Washington Territories ordered McClellan to turn over his expedition logbooks so he could determine just what the hell had happened, the short in stature, long on ego lieutenant refused. It is believed that he did so because of embarrassing comments he recorded throughout the log.  He had a big mouth.


After mature deliberation upon the testimony adduced I have come to the conclusion that if you still want my very valuable assistance at the Assay office I am perfectly willing to accede to your offer. It is desirable for me, for many reasons, to be in the East for a while. I would be glad if you would move in the matter as soon as possible, for should this project fail I will apply for a leave of absence for six months [...] before I am bagged for any out of the way service...

Sincerely your friend,

Geo B. McClellan

Translation: "After condescending to think about it I've decided that if you still require the wonderfulness of myself and all that my majesty can contribute, I will deign to accept your request."

McClellan's desire to to stay in the East (Philadelphia) for a while refers to his courtship of Mary Ellen Marcy, his future wife. The reference to applying for a six-month leave "before I am bagged for any out of the way service" was prescient. In June 1854, a month after this letter was written,  he was bagged for out of the way service by Jefferson Davis, who ordered him to embark on a secret reconnaissance mission in Santo Domingo in Haiti. Jefferson Davis saw something in McClellan that others failed to observe, and in 1855 McClellan was promoted to Captain.

The estimates for the letters reflect the value and esteem that collectors (and history) have placed upon these two major figures. Robert E. Lee is considered to be one of the greatest generals of all time. His brilliant, often audacious maneuvers and battlefield instincts led to victory after victory - as long as George B. McClellan commanded the Union forces.

McClellan knew how to build an army but was reluctant to use it. Insecure behind a facade of confidence, he was loathe to admit mistakes and accept responsibility; he offered President Lincoln nothing by excuses for his inaction and timidity, and he never hid his disdain for his Commander-in-Chief. Until Lincoln relieved him of duty, the position of the Union army was dire.

How badly has McClellan fared in the marketplace? The letter offered above is one of two being offered in the same lot estimated at $100-$200. Only his Civil War correspondence fetches decent prices but compared to Lee, Grant, Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and other War Between the States luminaries, prices for McClellan letters are lame. According to ABPC, $8,500 is the top price paid for a McClellan ALS within the last thirty-seven years (To Gen. Ambrose Burnside on May 21, 1862, expressing pride in his past victories & preparing for battle at Richmond). In 2004, a McClellan autograph letter signed fetched $3,200. Two years later, in 2006, the same letter sold at auction for 3,000.

In 2011, a signed copy of Robert E. Lee's farewell letter to his troops ("General Order #9), dated April 10, 1865, sold at Christie's for $80,000. "After 4 years of ardous service...I bid you all an affectionate farewell. [Sgd] R.E. Lee Genl.

McClellan never seemed to accept responsibility for his failures; he blamed others. Lee, in contrast, wore his shortcomings - such as they were - heavily. When Robert E. Lee was appointed Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia he accepted with solemnity. When George B. McCellan was promoted to Commander of the Army of the Potomac he reveled in his newly acquired power and fame.

One was a gentleman, the other a jerk.

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Images courtesy of Swann Galleries, with our thanks.
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Scarcer Than A Battleship In A Bathtub

by Stephen J. Gertz

A copy of James Ralfe's Naval Chronology of Great Britain in the original parts has come to market. A book of incredible scarcity in its original twelve installments 1818-1819, only one copy has been seen at auction within the last fifty-three years, in 1960, according to ABPC. The chances of seeing another in the original parts anytime soon are slim to none. The rare 1820 three-volume first edition in book format is commonplace by comparison.

It's a foundational historical account of British naval and maritime events from the beginning of the Napoleonic wars in 1803 through the War of 1812 to the end of 1816, illustrated with sixty magnificent hand-colored aquatint engravings. James Ralfe (fl 1818-1829) was a respected naval historian.

As such, it is an invaluable reference on the British Navy during the period under review, with the plates based on drawings by officers, many of whom were participants in the naval battles:  T. Sutherland, F.C. Lewis, D. Havel and others after T. Whitcombe, J. Beresford, W.A. Armstrong, J. Gore, and W. Hill.

"The object of this work is, more particularly, to perpetuate the names of those individuals who have, by their talents, courage, and professional abilities, increased the honour and reputation of the British Navy, and secured the peace and independence of the Country.

 "It will form a complete Naval History from 1802 (the time at which Captain Schomberg's Chronology terminates) to 1817, under the form generally acknowledged to be the most convenient for an historical work of reference. From the arrangements which have been made, it is expected that the work will answer every purpose of information not only to gentlemen of the Navy, but to those who feel an interest in the naval events of the last fourteen years; while the correctness of the drawings, the superior style of the engravings, and the neatness of execution, will render it worthy of the attention of every lover of the fine arts. Indeed, throughout the greatest pains will be taken to make this publication of the utmost utility, and deserving of general patronage" (rear wrapper).

Amongst the splendid hand-colored aquatints are images of the Battle of Trafalgar, the bombardment of Algiers, and more.

As if this copy in original parts wasn't special enough, it possesses important bibliographical points, not the least of which are early watermarking of the plates (1819; early issue) and printed plate inscriptions, i.e. "from a sketch by...,"  "from a plan by...". According to Abbey, plates later colored lack these inscriptions for genuine hand-colored plates, i.e. colored at time of issue. "Genuine colored copies are rare" (Tooley). The rear wrappers  state "Price to Subscribers 10s 6d plain, and 15s coloured."

This copy was stashed in the 1940s and forgotten in the vault of a bookselling firm in Europe until recently. While complete with all plates and the subscriber's list, the wrappers were distressed to one degree or another and those parts which bore the worst wear along the spine or edges, wrapper losses, loose plates, etc. were restored by master book conservator Bruce Levy who did an astonishing job that is almost invisible to the untrained eye.

The sinking of the H.M.S. Miasma, Trafalgar Motor Lodge, room 24, lavatory.

Pardon me. Battleships in bathtubs are not as scarce as I thought. But I think it safe to say that Ralfe's Naval Chronology of Great Britain in the original parts is almost as scarce as an aircraft carrier cruising the Sahara in search of Australian grass parakeets.

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RALFE, Mr. J[ames]. Naval Chronology of Great Britain. Or, an Historical Account of Naval and Maritime Events, From the Commencement of the War in 1803, to the end of the year 1816: also, Particulars of the Most Important Court-Martial, Votes of Parliament, Lists of Flag-Officers in Commission, and of Promotions for Each year: The Whole forming a complete Naval History of the above Period. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings. London: Whitmore and Fenn, 1818.

First edition, early issue with plates watermarked 1819. Twelve original parts, 1818-1819, in tall octavo (10 1/8 x 6 7/8 in; 256 x 175 mm). Sixty "genuine" hand-colored aquatint plates (with printed inscriptions, i.e. "from a sketch by...,"  "from a plan by...,"), including frontispiece, with original tissue guards. Original buff printed wrappers, restored and/or renewed.

Abbey, Life 342. Tooley 392. Sabin 67602. Howes R21. Cf. Prideaux, p. 348 (book edition).

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Images courtesy of David Brass Rare Books, currently offering this item, with our thanks.
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The Amazon Of The American Revolution

by Stephen J. Gertz

I "burst the tyrant bounds which held my sex in awe."

The Female Review: or, memoirs of an American young lady whose life and character are peculiarly distinguished - being a Continental soldier (for nearly three years) in the late American War, during which she performed the duties of every department into which she was called with punctual exactness, fidelity, and honor. By a citizen of Massachusetts. Portrait engraved by Graham. Dedham: Printed by Nathaniel and Benjamin Heaton, for the author, 1797.

"The subject of this memoir was born at Plympton, Mass. in 1760. Disguised as a man, she enlisted in the Revolutionary Army (Fourth Mass. Regiment) under the name Robert Shurtleff, and was wounded in a skirmish at Tarrytown, N.Y. She was also present at Yorktown" (From a Boston bookseller's catalog c. 1916).

"There are few cases known to history, of women serving as soldiers, without discovery of their sex, but all, save our heroine, were in foreign armies: she remains the only one known to our own army, until 1861-65, when according to Mrs. Livermore's My Story of the War [Hartford, Conn.: A.D. Worthington and Company. 1888], there were many in the Union Army, by one unnamed authority almost four hundred - though of course none were enlisted if their sex was known.

"It is admitted that there were two women in Washington's army who did soldier's work - Molly Pitcher of Monmouth, and Margaret Corbin of Fort Washington - But theirs was but a 'service of occasion,' and they were not regularly enlisted, as was Deborah Sampson" (Editor's note to 1916 edition).

Deborah Sampson (1760-1827) was born the daughter of impoverished farmers who claimed distinguished lineage from the early Pilgrims. Bound out as an indentured servant as a child, she became literate and taught school for six months after her indenture ended in 1779. She was five feet seven inches - tall for a girl of that era - and, according to observers, possessed a sturdy physique and was strong.

"A more headstrong and even reckless aspect to Sampson's nature appeared during the year 1782. Inspired by the events of the American Revolution, she dressed in men's clothing and enlisted in the Massachusetts militia forces under the assumed name of Timothy Thayer. Caught soon afterward and exposed as a woman masquerading in men's clothes, she was forced to yield the bounty money that was customarily paid to enlistees during that period of the revolutionary war. Unhindered by this initial setback, and rejecting a suitor who was favored by her mother, Sampson dressed in men's clothing once again and on 20 May 1782 enlisted in the Fourth Massachusetts Regiment in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, under the assumed name of Robert Shurtlieff (given variously in other sources as Shirtliff, Shurtleff, or Shirtlief). Mustered in Worcester, Massachusetts, on 23 May 1782, she marched southward to West Point, New York, as a member of the Continental army.

"Sampson saw considerable action during her year and a half in the American forces (20 May 1782-23 Oct. 1783). She took part in a battle against American Loyalists near Tarrytown, New York, where she was wounded in the thigh. Treated by a French surgeon in the American army, she extracted a musket ball from her thigh [with penknife and needle] rather than have her gender discovered. Around this same time she suffered the indignity of having the First Baptist Church of Middleborough, Massachusetts, sever its connections with her, citing her 'very loose and unchristian like' behavior" (American National Biography).

She continued her service in the Continental Army through war's end. For a brief period immediately afterward she continued to pose as a man, under the name Ephraim Sampson. But in 1784 she married Benjamin Gannett, settled down, and bore three children. Sampson suffered from the effects of her war wounds, and experienced financial difficulties.

She solicited assistance from her friend and neighbor in Canton, Massachusetts, Paul Revere, who wrote letters in her behalf, and may have provided direct financial support. Sampson was placed on the pension list of the United States in 1805 (retroactive to 1803) as the result of her petitions and the pleading of Revere.

Title page, 1916 reprint, Tarrytown, N.Y. : William Abbatt.

The diary she kept of her exploits as a soldier was lost when, returning to West Point, the boat she was in capsized. She told her wartime stories to Herman Mann, a printer, publisher, and editorial writer for the Dedham. Massachusetts Village Register.

"He interviewed her, and after much persuasion she agreed to let him write her story, with his promise that she would have the final say…but  there is reason to believe that Deborah never did get final review. Mann arranged for a list of subscribers to pay costs and promised Deborah a share of the profits, but it seems she did not receive much of these. He commissioned Joseph Stone of Framingham, Massachusetts, to paint Deborah's picture for a frontispiece for the book" (Bohrer, Glory, Passion, and Principle: The Story of Eight Remarkable Women at the Core of the American Revolution, p. 208).

Mann was loose with facts, added his own "moral reflections," and with his own vivid imagery and fanciful hyperbole related her experiences. As a result, the book is now considered to be more the product of his pen than Sampson's direct memories; his words, not hers. Mann even spelled her surname incorrectly: it is "Samson," no "p."

A more accurate recounting of Deborah Samson's exploits can be found in The Women of the American Revolution by Elizabeth F. Ellet (NY, Baker and Scribner, 1848). In the Preface, Ellet notes, "I have been told that the Female Review about this heroine was not in any measure reliable and that Deborah Samson repeatedly expressed her displeasure at the representation of herself which she did not at all recognize. The following facts respecting her I received from a lady who knew her personally and has often listened with thrilling interest to the animated description given by herself of her exploits and adventures."

In 1802 Deborah Samson began public speaking to theater audiences in New England and New York; she was the first professional woman lecturer in the United States. Billed as "The American Heroine" and wearing a blue and white uniform and armed with a musket, she performed military manual exercises while relating how she had 'burst the tyrant bounds which held my sex in awe.' The remainder of her life was uneventful.

"Sampson's wartime service was both sensational and remarkable. The activities of this American 'Joan of Arc' were in many ways more extraordinary than the heroics of persons such as Betsy Ross and Molly Pitcher. First, Sampson's military service was reasonably well documented; second, she took obvious pride and pleasure in both her service and in the manner of her disguise; and third, she attracted the attention of a revolutionary notable, Revere. Even in her own day, a Massachusetts newspaper marveled at the story of a 'lively, comely young nymph, nineteen years of age, dressed in man's apparel,' serving in the armies of the revolutionary cause" (Davis, "A 'Gallantress' Gets Her Due: The Earliest Published Notice of Deborah Sampson," Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 91, no. 2 (1981): p. 322). "As was the case with many heroes and heroines of the Revolution, Deborah Sampson Gannett's name faded from the public memory by the mid-nineteenth century" (American National Biography).

Lost in obscurity Deborah Samson was rediscovered by the feminist movement during the late 1960s. In 1983 Deborah Samson was formally proclaimed "Official Heroine of the State of Massachusetts."

The first edition of The Female Review is quite rare; according to ABPC only two copies have come to auction within the last thirty-seven years. Only one copy of the 1866 reprint has seen the auction rooms during the same period. There are no copies of the 1797, 1866, or 1916 (with biographical corrections) editions currently being offered by anyone, anywhere in the world; the book is as scarce as can be.

But for those interested in reading this tale of the American Revolution's amazon in male drag the full text is available online.

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[SAMPSON, Deborah] [MANN, Herman]. The Female Review: or, memoirs of an American young lady whose life and character are peculiarly distinguished - being a Continental soldier (for nearly three years) in the late American War, during which she performed the duties of every department into which she was called with punctual exactness, fidelity, and honor. By a citizen of Massachusetts. Portrait engraved by Graham. Dedham: Printed by Nathaniel and Benjamin Heaton, for the author, 1797.

First edition. Twelvemo. xv, [16]-258, [8] pp. Frontispiece portrait by Stone, engraved by Graham.

Sabin 44314.

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Don't Wipe Your Nose With This Map

by Stephen J. Gertz

Evelyn Mulwray: It's a handkerchief!
[slap]
Jake Gertz: I said I want the truth!
Evelyn Mulwray: It's a map…
[slap]
Evelyn Mulwray: It's a handkerchief…
[slap]
Evelyn Mulwray: A handkerchief, a map.
[More slaps]
Jake Gertz: I said I want the truth!
Evelyn Mulwray: It's a handkerchief AND a map!

The Travelling Handkerchief  has come to town, Fairburn's Map of the Country Twelve Miles Round London by E. Bourne, printed on calico, 590 x 540 mm, in 1831, a scarce, early handkerchief map.

The map is circular, and reaches Teddington in the south west, clockside to Norwood, Harrow on the Hill, Chipping Barnet, Dagenham, Purley and Kingsston, wherever they are. I'm in Los Angeles, clockside to Westwood, harrowing on Barrington, Pico and Sepulveda; what do I know? This cartographical Kleenex™ is decorated by vignette views of Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals in the bottom corners, and a banner heralding the title is held aloft in an eagle's beak.

Washington D.C. based on
Samuel Hill's engraving of Andrew Ellicott's plan.
Printed in Boston, c. 1792.

Handkerchief maps date back to the late 18th century. Examples featuring the plan for Washington D.C. werre sold as "'an authentic plan of the Metropolis of the United States,' advertised as an accurate guide for the prospective purchaser of lots but also as 'a very handsome ornament for the parlor or counting room" (Luria, Capital Speculations: Writing and Building Washington, p. 14). These handkerchief maps are believed to have been printed in Boston in 1792 in connection with "the sale of lots in the new 'Federal Town'" (Works Progress Administration, Washington: City and Capital, p. xiv).

Map of the Baltic theatre of the Crimean War
Paris, Dopter, c.1855.
Engraved map, printed on silk. 650 x 610mm.
Map of the Baltic Sea during
the Crimean War, when the British and French
sent their fleets to blockade St Petersburg.
It is decorated with vignettes of St Petersberg,
Kronstadt, naval scenes and French and British coat-of-arms.

During the 19th century, the British Army's Quartermaster-General Department in India issued handkerchief maps of Delhi and Attock for use by their troops, and they were published as souvenirs during the Crimean War.

The Absent-Minded Beggar.
London, the Daily Mail Publishing Co. Ltd, c.1899.
Linen handkerchief printed in blue, 460 x 470mm.
Printed handkerchief published by the Daily Mail
to rise funds for the "Soldiers' Families Fund"
after the outbreak of the Second Boer War (1899-1902).

Guildhall Library in London has an example of The Travelling Handkerchief in its collection and of another handkerchief map scarcity, An Illustrated Map of London, published in 1850.

Anonymous.
London and its Environs for 1832.
Engraving on cotton. 915 x 890mm.

Handkerchief maps were issued to U.S. Air Force servicemen during WWII as escape maps if shot down over enemy territory. On acetate rayon, linen, or silk, they were lightweight, waterproof, hard to tear and tough to disintegrate; they were able to take a beating yet still fulfill their purpose. The British also issued handkerchief maps to their air force crews and ground troops in all theaters of operation.

The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection at University of Wisconsin has sixteen mid-20th century handkerchief maps of U.S. states, Canada, the 1939 World's Fair, etc. in its collection.

Surviving eighteenth and nineteenth century handkerchief maps in collectible condition are quite rare.

Jake Gertz: My nose is bleeding, gimme your handkerchief.
Walsh: Forget it, Jake, I'm lookin' for Chinatown. It's on here somewhere.
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BOURNE, E. The Travelling Handkerchief. Fairburn's Map of the Country Twelve Miles Round London. London: John Fairburn, 1831. Engraved map printed on calico. 590 x 540mm.

Howgego 216 (3).
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The Travelling Handkerchief and other British handkerchief map images courtesy of Altea Gallery, with our thanks.

Image of Washington D.C. handkerchief map courtesy of George Washington University GW Magazine, with our thanks.

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Fascinating Lawrence of Arabia Letter Comes To Market

by Stephen J. Gertz

Hold on to your keffiyeh: the asking price for a letter written by T.E. Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia that has recently come into the marketplace is $47,514 (€35,000). For Lawrence collectors it's an acquisition dream, for historians a must read. For Lawrence of Arabia fans, it's Peter O'Toole's  mythical hero three years before he got on his motorcycle for the last time.

Sent from Plymouth on October 12, 1932,  Lawrence wrote to Maj. Sir Hubert Young (1885-1950), who was attached to Prince Faisal I beginning in early 1918 as a British assistant political officer during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Later in 1918 he was awarded the DSO for gallantry in Mezerib, Syria. After the war, he joined the Foreign Office in London and at the time of this letter was First Minister of Baghdad.

Lawrence writes about reading what was, apparently, galleys or an early review copy of Young's book, The Independent Arab: The Author's Experiences with T.E. Lawrence, Etc (London: John Murray, 1933):

"This is unlikely to reach you in time. I saw Lady Young in London and talked an hour with her and heard much news. You are a fortunate person, I think ...

"I didn't dare tell G[orrell] that I thought your first part - - Turkey before the war - - a definitive evocation of the real thing. I felt every stage of your journey. The war was good - - but for subjective reasons I am out of liking the war. The politics were too restrained.

"Lady Young explained that as a still-serving official you couldn't let yourself go, politically. I see the point, but still regret it. It would have been a better book if you had sacrificed your future to it. When you are old and free the fire may have gone out of you.

"Parts of the book were so like you. I could hear and see you.

"It was not Constantinople [?] that burnt you into my memory, but your saying one day that you were afraid - - of some incident or other. That was my first encounter with a really thruthful person.

"I may have been wrong to suggest you for Bedouin actions during the war: but Nasir's Jurf-Hesa demolition was the biggest Bedouin demolition of the northern war, and it was your organizing. No, I don't think I was wrong. You took transport & H[?] work because its need was greater, that's all.

"It is very good news that you are for a governorship next [Nyassaland, i.e. Malawi]. I hope you & Lady Young like the life.

"Don't imagine that in refusing the puff to Gorrell I did it because I grudged it. You can command anything I have and am at any time. Look what you have done in Irak! That's a debt not easily to be paid."

Regarding the Nasir demolition that Lawrence refers to, Richard Aldington, in Lawrence of Arabia. A Biographical Enquiry (London, 1955), wrote: "Just before the New Year, 1918, Sharif Nasir attacked and captured the station of Jurf (between Maan and Hesa) with 200 prisoners. This result had been accomplished by Beni Sakr Bedouins and one mountain gun"  (p. 216).

Lawrence signs the letter "T.E.S." - Thomas Edward Shaw - his post-war pseudonym. Being Lawrence of Arabia had become an onerous burden to him and he simply wanted to be swallowed up into obscurity. It is no secret that he was bitterly disappointed and frustrated by how events in the Middle East had evolved during and after the war, as hinted at in the letter: "The politics [of your book] were too restrained."

The British and French were by no means restrained in their power grab in the region, carving it up under the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 and in the immediate aftermath of the War establishing the boundaries for the Middle Eastern nations we now know under a mandate system sanctioned by the new League of Nations.

Very soon after that Arab resistance movements emerged to challenge the new system. Had it been written in 1919 instead of 1971, Arabs may have sung the following anthem:

Change it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the fall that's all
But the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the last war

I'll pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
Don't get fooled again
No, no!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

(Pete Townshend)

Lawrence of Arabia would have ruefully nodded his head. 
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LAWRENCE, T[homas] E[dward], British explorer, intelligence officer, and writer (1888-1935). Autograph letter signed ("T. E. S."). Plymouth, 12. X. 1932. Small 4to. 2 pp.

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Images courtesy of Inlibris, currently offering this item, with our thanks.
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Rare Edition of Lawrence Of Arabia $112,000 - $144,000 At Auction

by Stephen J. Gertz

A scarce "incomplete" Presentation copy of the Subscriber's ("Cranwell") edition of T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom, one of only thirty-two of a total edition of 211 copies and inscribed at the time of publication to writer E.M. Forster, is being offered by Sotheby's in their English Literature, History, Children's Books & Illustrations sale on December 12, 2012.

It is estimated to sell for  $112,000 - 144,000 (£70,000 - £90,000). That's $16,000 - $20,571 per pillar.

The book, in which Lawrence wrote of the Arab revolt, 1916-1918, against the Ottoman Empire during World War I and his role in organizing and leading it, set in stone the  legendary adventures of Lawrence of Arabia that emerged from the war's news coverage and stoked the mythos that had grown around one of the most fascinating, complex, and enigmatic characters of his or any other time.

"In 1913 Lawrence wrote a book entitled Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It was designed to cover seven Middle Eastern cities,,,The manuscript was burned in 1914....Lawrence began writing his version of the desert war in 1919...A major portion, if not all, of this first edition was lost at Reading Station in late 1919. A second version was written in London 1919-1920 in a period of three months. Lawrence burned this in 1922...The third manuscript was written in London, Jeddah and Amman, 1921, and in London 1922. This third manuscript, some 330,000 words long, was donated to the Bodleian Library" (O'Brien).

Lawrence had a eight copies printed of that third version in 1922, the first English ("Oxford") edition. He reworked the text 1923-1926, during which time he loaned copies of the 1922 version to various people for critical comment,  E.M. Forster amongst them.

"E.M. Forster was one of the most influential readers of Seven Pillars of Wisdom during the time that Lawrence was cutting down the 1922 ‘Oxford’ text to the abridged version that he issued to subscribers in 1926. Forster offered far more than general praise and admiration. He provided expert criticism of specific writing faults. The two became friends and remained in contact until Lawrence’s death in 1935" (Jeremy Wilson for Castle Hill Press, E.M. Forster and T.E. Lawrence, upon the publication of the Lawrence-Forster letters).

Despite the enormous amount of time, effort, craft and artistry that Lawrence invested in writing this classic his inscription to Forster modestly reads: "Not good enough, but as good, apparently, as I can do."

This, the elaborate "Cranwell" or privately printed Subscriber's (second English) edition - a text of 280,000 words - was published in 1926. Of the total of 211 copies, 170 were complete and 32 were incomplete with three plates lacking, a version "presented to the men who had served with him in Arabia and who were not able to pay the high price asked for the complete issue" (German Reed). the complete issue priced at £31 10s, a princely sum in 1926. The final nine copies were "spoils," i.e. plates only. Each copy was bound differently with various binders employed: for Bumpus (by Riviere); Best; Sangorski and Sutcliffe (as here); Harrison; Charles McLeish; Roger de Coverly & Sons; and Henry T. Wood.

Presentation copy inscribed by the author to E.M. Forster,
“E.M.F.  from T.E.S. ['T.E. Shaw' Lawrence's post-War pseudonym]:
Not good enough, but as good, apparently, as I can do. | I.XII.26"
on preliminary blank together with later inscription from E.M. Forster
to Bob Buckingham, “R.J. Buckingham  from  E.M. Forster 20-1-68”.

No incomplete copies (aside from the nine plates-only "spoil" copies the rarest of the "Cranwell" edition) have come to auction within the last thirty-six years. One of the 170 complete copies sold earlier this year at Bonham's for $65,000 (incl. premium). Only a small handful of copies of the first ("Oxford") English edition of 1922 are in private hands. Should one miraculously find its way to market it will surely fetch upwards of $500,000.

In 1927, Lawrence published Revolt in the Desert, an abridgment of Seven Pillars of Wisdom, in a limited and trade edition that brought his story to a wider audience.

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[LAWRENCE, T.E.] Seven Pillars of Wisdom. A Triumph. [Privately Printed, 1926]. Quarto (251 by 188mm.). The subscribers' or "Cranwell" edition, one of 32 “incomplete” copies (from an edition of 211 copies) (annotated “Incomplete copy | I.XII.26 TES” on page XIX), presentation copy inscribed by the author to E.M. Forster (“E.M.F. | from | T.E.S. | Not good enough, but as good, apparently, as I can do. | I.XII.26.”) on preliminary blank together with later inscription from E.M. Forster to Bob Buckingham (“R.J. Buckingham | from | E.M. Forster | 20-1-68”) on preliminary blank, printed in red and black, frontispiece portrait of King Feysal after Augustus John and 62 (of 65) plates (mostly in colour) and other text illustrations after Roberts, Kennington, Nash, Nicholson and others, 4 folding coloured maps, decorative initials by Edward Wadsworth.

Original full tan morocco signed by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, tooled in gilt on covers, spine gilt in compartments, endpapers by Kennington, collector’s tan morocco backed folding box with thirty typed leaves and one handwritten leaf by Forster, occasional light spotting, one of the most complete of the “incomplete copies” but lacking plates ‘Waterfalls’ and ‘Mountains’ (within the plates following the text) and ‘Prophet’s Tomb’ (not listed, but noted by O’Brien).

O'Brien A040.

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Images courtesy of Sotheby's, with our thanks.
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Last Chance To See Cruikshank's Greenwich Hospital In Original Boards

By Stephen J. Gertz

Take a good look at the book above. It is likely the first and last time you have  seen or will ever see  Greenwich Hospital, A Series of Naval Sketches, Descriptive of the Life of a Man-O-War's Man. By an Old Sailor. With Illustrations by George Cruikshank (1826) in its original boards. According to the ABPC Index, the last time a copy in the  publisher's hardcover issue came to auction was sixty-eight years ago in 1944.

A rare book? More like an astonishment.

Billy Culmer and the Goose.

Rumor and whispers accompanied this extremely rare volume at the recent Olympia Book Fair in London. It was immediately pounced upon, and the trail of tears leaving the Sims Reed booth presented a hazard to attendees who risked slipping on the path of disappointment trod by chagrined dealers who, alas, were too late to seize this amazing copy of the satiric memoirs of a British navy man in and around the Old Royal Naval College and Hospital, established at Greenwich in 1694.

Scud Hill.

According to Cohn's catalogue raisonné of Cruikshank, the book was "Originally published in four parts, and then in pink paper picture boards, with woodcuts on the top and bottom covers duplicated from those in the text...In the original parts the work is of the utmost rarity, while in the original boards it is extremely scarce. [Re]Bound copies are much more usual."

Wildly popular upon its publication the book wasn't read so much as mauled, and since Cohn wrote in 1914 rebound copies have become the rule broken only when lightning strikes.

Crossing the Line.

Of George Cruikshank (1792-1878), little need be added here beyond the fact that he followed his father, Isaac Cruikshank, into the trade and was the successor to Thomas Rowlandson; he was the greatest caricaturist of his era, known as "the Modern Hogarth." 

Flying Artillery or A Horse Marine.

The pseudonymous Old Sailor who wrote the text is, however, another matter.

The Point of Honor.

"Matthew Henry Barker (pseud. the Old Sailor, 1790–1846), sailor and writer...served in the Royal Navy...After retiring from the service in 1813, he commanded a hired armed schooner...and was employed ... in carrying dispatches to the English squadrons on the southern coasts of France and Spain. On one occasion he fell into the enemy's hands and was detained for some months as a prisoner of war. In 1825 he became editor of a West India newspaper and was afterwards employed, from 1827 to 1838, in a similar capacity at Nottingham... 

Sailors Carousing; or a peep in the Long-Room.

"Under the pseudonym the Old Sailor, Barker wrote a number of lively and spirited sea tales, very popular in their day. These included such works as Land and Sea Tales (1836); Topsail-Sheet Blocks, or, The Naval Foundling (1838), which ran into several editions; The Naval Club, or, Reminiscences of Service (1843); and The Victory, or, The Wardroom Mess (1844). He was naval editor of the United Service Gazette and a frequent contributor to the Literary Gazette, the Pictorial Times, and Bentley's Miscellany, the last at the time under the editorship of Charles Dickens, who came to value the consistent quality of the contributions of ‘the old Sailor’. Barker was a friend of George Cruikshank, who illustrated seven of his works. One of the most attractive of these was the reprint of a series of sketches originally published in the Literary Gazette as ‘The Life of a Man-of-War's Man’. The volume edition was called Greenwich Hospital (1826) and was a great success with the public, going into an almost immediate reissue. Two other of his works illustrated by Cruikshank were Tough Yarns (1835), which he dedicated to Captain Marryat, and Nights at Sea (1852). He was also a chief contributor to Cruikshank's Omnibus.

"Barker felt that his publishers were less than generous with him, and the situation became worse as his sea tales fell out of fashion. He was married, but had increasing difficulty in supporting his family. He died, in poverty, on 29 June 1846" (Oxford DNB).

Woodcut, rear board.

Originally costing one  guinea (21 British shillings, i.e. £1 1s), Barker could comfortably support his family for a lifetime on what this book in original boards now fetches.

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Title page, with offset from frontispiece.
The Old Royal Naval College and Hospital in vignette background.

[CRUIKSHANK, George, artist]. AN OLD SAILOR [pseudonym of M.H. Barker]. Greenwich Hospital. A Series of Naval Sketches, Descriptive of the Life of a Man-O-War's Man. By an Old Sailor. With Illustrations by George Cruikshank. London: James Robins and Co., 1826.

First edition. Quarto (11 1/4 x 8 3/4 in; 284 x 222 mm). iv, 200 pp. Twelve hand-colored engraved plates, including frontispiece.  Sixteen text woodcuts.

Publisher's original pink-paper printed and pictorial boards.

Cohn 53 (1924 ed).

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Images courtesy of David Brass Rare Books, with our thanks.
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Eyewitness Account of Hitler Assassination Attempt Surfaces at Auction

by Stephen J. Gertz

An important eyewitness account of the July 20, 1944 Hitler assassination attempt signed by General Adolf Heusinger, who stood next to Hitler in the Wolf's Lair  when the Operation Valkyrie bomb exploded, came to auction on Tuesday, January 31, 2012.

Offered by Nate D. Sanders Auctions and dated November 1945, the six-page typed document  contains Heusinger's account of the assassination attempt on Hitler, including his hand-rendered diagram of the room and the seating arrangement of Hitler and his staff, as well as the list of who was in the room.

The lengthy typed document, in German, is entitled "The Progression of Events of 20 July 1944" and translates in part:

"The daily review of current happenings took place…at 12:30 in the afternoon in the headquarters of the Fuehrer in Rastenburg. All people indicated on the attached sketch/diagram took part. I, myself represented the then-ill chief of the army, Colonel-General Zeitzler…Hitler entered the room coming from his bunker…First I addressed the situation on the Eastern Front…maps were spread on the tables…Field Marshal Keitel entered the room with Colonel Graf Stauffenberg…Hitler briefly turned around when Stauffenberg made his presence known…The meeting continued…

"Hitler, however, interrupted, saying he only wanted to hear Stauffenberg at the end of the discussion of the Eastern Front…I went on with my speech. Stauffenberg…walked over to Colonel Brandt: 'I have to go make a phone call and I'm leaving my briefcase here until then.'  With these words he left the room, went straight to his car and drove to the exit of the headquarters. There he was said to have waited until the explosion occurred to fly back to Berlin.

Brandt, who was uncomfortable with the briefcase between his feet, pushed it with his foot a little farther underneath the table…About ten minutes later I was reporting on the situation near Duenaburg when Hitler leaned over the table next to me…Right at that moment, at around 12:50 the explosion occurred under the table…I found myself after a few seconds lying on my back, to my right, Colonel Brandt, to my left, Hitler, both lying on their backs as well.

"I heard a loud scream, probably from Keitel: 'The Fuehrer!' And I saw how the big map that was in flames was about to fall on top of me, probably because of the draft coming through the window. I pushed it away with my right arm and crawled backwards toward the door out of the room while the uninjured tended to those who were badly injured. When I reached the outside I sat myself on a patch of grass together with Colonel-General Korten and General-Major Scherff. I realized that I could barely hear, was bleeding on the head and the legs, burned my right underarm and that my uniform was completely torn apart. 

"After a few moments Hitler came out of the building supported by Keitel and his servant Lingen, who must have been near the room, and probably Fegelein, the leader of the Waffen SS, and walked to his bunker fifty paces away. His right pant leg was completely torn as well. All other wounded were immediately sent to the sick bay. I myself was arrested on the eve of 23 July 1944 in the sick bay by the Gestapo due to [involvement] in the assassination attempt and taken to the Gestapo prison in Berlin where I was detained for ten weeks.

"I ATTRIBUTE THE FAILURE OF THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT TO THE FOLLOWING: 

1. The floor of the room was made out of wood and not concrete. Some of the bomb's effect must have been absorbed by the floor. 

2. The windows flew out right away, which allowed some of the pressure to disperse. 

3. The thick oak table blocked the upward force of the bomb. 

4. Between Colonel Brandt and myself supposedly was a big column from the table. It probably absorbed some of the force of the bomb in Hitler's direction. The Composition of the Bomb is unknown to me. The detonator must have been an English chemical time fuse as it has been frequently dropped behind our front for reasons of sabotage and was picked up by our defense department. [signed] Heusinger".

A notation in pencil on the first page reads, "for Captain GRUENDL". Accompanied by full translation.

The bidding closed at 5:30PM Pacific. As of 8:52PM Pacific the last bid was $2,853. A bargain, it seems to me.

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Images courtesy of Nate D. Sanders Auctions, with our thanks.

First Edition of The Star Spangled Banner Estimated at $200,000-$300,000

by Stephen J. Gertz

One of only eleven extant copies of the first printed edition of the combined lyrics and music of The Star-Spangled Banner, the United States national anthem,  will be auctioned at Christies-New York on December  3, 2010. It is estimated to sell for between $200,000 - $300,000.

This, the original sheet music, is the only copy in private hands. It was found within an album of sheet music bound c. 1820. It was originally sold by Carr's Music Store in Baltimore via catalog.

During the War of 1812, inspired by a shipboard vigil on the night of September 13-14, 1814 when a British naval flotilla bombarded Fort McHenry for hours, prefatory to a planned full-scale assault, Francis Scott Key, a young lawyer and amateur poet, along with a colleague, had gone on board a British ship under a flag of truce to secure the release of an American held as a prisoner, physician  William Beanes.

To ensure that  military intelligence on the impending attack by the British would not be passed to the Americans, Key was also detained. With a sweeping view of the dramatic scene from the ship upon which he was held, Key anxiously watched as the British cannonade, incendiary bomb, and rocket salvos were fired onto the American fort.

During the shelling, the large United States stars and stripes flag waving from Fort McHenry's ramparts was clearly visible but when the bombardment ceased, the flag was obscured. Francis Scott Key's spirits sank;  had the fort surrendered?

Later edition.

At dawn, however, when the smoke from the bombardment had cleared, the flag was again visible; the fort had withstood the assault. Key's patriotism was stirred and his anxiety relieved by the sight of Old Glory.

 He wrote the first draft of the anthem on the back of a letter while still aboard ship. The final version, containing four eight-line stanzas, was completed in the next few days upon Key's return to Baltimore.

The music is not Key's. The melody of The Star-Spangled Banner is that of a popular British drinking tune, The Anacreontic Song, one already known, with varying lyrics, to Americans. And as difficult to sing then as now.

The Star-Spangled Banner was officially adopted for use by the U.S. Navy in 1889. On March 3, 1931 it was proclaimed the national anthem by a resolution of Congress.



On August 17, 1969 Jimi Hendrix performed an electric guitar screaming feedback rendition at Woodstock. Establishment critics went ballistic, their rockets aglare and eyes seeing red.

On July 25, 1990, comedienne Rosanne Barr had the bombs bursting in air with her explosively off-key and out of tune performance at the beginning of a baseball game. Afterward, President George H.W. Bush declared her vinnegar tone-deaf version ending with a crotch-grab flourish, "disgusting." You be the judge. I be stuffing my ears.



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KEY, Francis Scott. The Star Spangled Banner. A Pariotic [sic] Song. Baltimore: Printed and Sold at Carr's Music Store, 36 Baltimore Street, n.d. [Sept. - Nov. 1814]. Quarto (13 x 9 1/2 in; 338 x 245 mm). Two pages printed from engraved plates.

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Image courtesy of Christies.
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A Bad Hair Day In Tibet

by Stephen J. Gertz

In 1903, fearful that the Chinese were on the verge of granting Tibet to Russia  and endangering their Raj in India, the British sent a military expedition into Tibet to prevent the rumor from becoming a reality.

The commander of the expedition, Sir Francis Younghusband, brought along British civil servant and photographer John Claude White to document the campaign. White took a series of seventy photographs which were collected in an album c. 1905. Amongst the platinum prints and two folding panoramas is this striking image of Tibetan nuns.

Considering that Buddhist nuns are required to keep their hair cropped short it is unclear why this group allowed their hair to grow to such impious length. As recently as 2002, the Chinese were imprisoning Tibetan nuns and forcing them to let their hair grow out, the least offensive of their many humiliating punishments.

The Tibetans were none too happy with the British incursion, the Chinese even less so, and the British were none too kind to the Tibetans. Brigadier-General James Ronald Leslie Macdonald, leading a military force of over 3,000, including Nepalese Gurkhas, faced off against 3,000 Tibetan troops armed with muskets at the Battle of Guru, and a very short battle it was. After  negotiations to head things off failed, confusion ensued and the shooting began. The British, armed with Maxim machine guns, mowed down between 600-700 Tibetan troops. The rest were allowed to peacefully retreat. Younghusband, who now assumed command of the British army, marched into Lhasa and negotiated a treaty with the Regent, who declared, "When one has known the scorpion [China] the frog [Britain] is divine."

The British military mission ended in 1904, unpopular at home and everywhere else.

This album was recently at Bonhams for auction. It sold for £38,400 ($61,592), inclusive of buyer’s premium.
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[WHITE, JOHN CLAUDE]. An album of important images taken by John Claude White during Sir Francis Younghusband's Tibet Mission of 1903-1904. 70 platinum prints and 2 folding panoramas, images approximately 160 x 210mm., captioned on the mounts, contemporary half green morocco, lettered 'TIBET' on the upper cover, sailcloth chemise, oblong folio, [c.1905]
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Image courtesy of Bonhams.

Booktryst thanks Bookdealer for the lead.
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Custer's Bible At Little Bighorn to Auction

by Stephen J. Gertz

 

It’s Custer’s last Bible and it survived his Last Stand. Custer died with his boots on and this Bible just a yonder. 

Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s signed and inscribed personal Bible, which accompanied him on the Little Bighorn Expedition, will be auctioned on November 16, 2010 at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, TX.  It is estimated to sell for $25,000 - $50,000.

"G.A. Custer/ US Army/ Fort Abraham Lincoln Dacota [sic]/ Oct. 1st, 1874."

It is an intimate, personal relic of a tragic chapter in nineteenth century America, the possession  of one of the most colorful - and controversial - military personalities of his time through ours. Custer’s Last Stand, firmly a part of the American David v. Goliath heroic mythos, proved to be the Native-Americans' last heroic military triumph in their struggle to remain on their homelands and practice their way of life. The inevitable came soon enough for the U.S., too soon for the Great Nations of the Dakotas.

This Bible was clearly of great importance to Custer. After a somewhat wild youth of dubious faith and much drinking,  he became a devout Christian during his experience of the Civil War. He swore off whiskey and committed himself to God.

Upper board, elaborately blindstamped.

In May of 1864, he wrote to wife Libbie during the Wilderness Campaign of the Civil War:

"On the eve of every battle in which I have been engaged, I have never omitted to pray inwardly, devoutly. Never have I failed to commend myself to God's keeping, asking Him to forgive my past sins, and to watch over me while in danger... and to receive me if I fell, while caring for those near and dear to me. After having done so all anxiety for myself, here or hereafter, is dispelled. I feel that my destiny is in the hands of the Almighty. This belief, more than any other fact or reason, makes me brave and fearless as I am."

The Bible was a gift from his dear mother, and the only reason it survived the Battle of the Little Bighorn is due his leaving it in his personal wagon, which remained with the pack train guarded by Captain Benteen, the commander of the regiment’s scouting column. After the remnants of Custer's forces returned to Fort Lincoln, this Bible was returned to his widow, Libbie, and remained in possession of the Custer family until the late 1980s, when it was part of a large group of artifacts released by the descendants of Nevin Custer, Armstrong's sole surviving brother.

The battle occurred June 25/26th 1876.

Without question one of the most dramatic episodes in United States history, the Battle of the Little Bighorn (The Battle of the Greasy Grass to Native-Americans) was the central action of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. Custer, leading the 7th Cavalry regiment of the U.S. Army, met the combined forces of the Lakota, Arapaho, and Northern Cheyenne under the leadership of Crazy Horse and spiritual guidance of Sitting Bull. After a series of grievous assumptions and miscalculations thirty-six officers and 566 enlisted men were annihilated by an estimated 1,800 Native-American warriors. In its aftermath, Custer leaped into American history, became an instant legend, and is now part of the great American narrative, though the humiliation of the Army, the anger of the citizenry, and the desire for revenge did nothing to improve the quality of further relations, certainly not the quality of  mercy in further encounters with Native Americans.

Custer's Last Stand by William Reusswig.

Many books have been written about Custer and this battle. Hollywood has adapted it to film. It's a great story, no matter who you're rooting for.

Published by the American Bible Society, New York, in 1872, its binding had suffered over the years and has undergone painstaking conservation efforts  by a talented professional. The interior pages are untouched and in excellent condition, including the boldly inscribed and signed flyleaf page.

As a collectible this Bible, in and of itself, has little if any value. This is an example of provenance, inscription, and back-story being everything. The Bible was last seen in 1995, when Butterfield & Butterfield (now Bonhams) offered and hammered it at $46,750. 

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