"THE MOST INTIMATE OF THE ACCOUNTS OF GENERAL LEE": FIRST EDITION OF MEMOIRS OF ROBERT E. LEE, 1886

(LEE, Robert E.) LONG, Armistead Lindsay. Memoirs of Robert E. Lee: His Military and Personal History Embracing a Large Amount of Information Hitherto Unpublished. New York: J.M. Stoddart, 1886. Thick octavo, publisher's deluxe full blind-stamped morocco gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. $2200.

First edition of Lee's memoirs, written by his military secretary—"one of the most valuable source books for the history of Lee and of the Civil War"—handsome in publisher's deluxe full morocco-gilt.

"Following a short service in West Virginia, [Long] was ordered, in 1861, to report to Gen. Robert E. Lee in South Carolina. He arrived in Charleston on the eve of the great fire and that night he and Lee fled together from a burning hotel, each clasping a baby in his arms. Thus Long was introduced to an intimate companionship with his chief which continued throughout the war. Shortly afterward, when Lee became commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, Long was appointed his military secretary with the rank of colonel… Lee had chosen Long, whom he loved and trusted, for the most responsible position upon his staff… This volume contains the most intimate of the accounts of General Lee during the Civil War… In all, the work is one of the most valuable source books for the history of Lee and of the Civil War" (ANB). With four plates, seven facsimiles (five full-page, two folding) of Lee's hand-drawn field maps, and a large folding map. Eicher 268. Wright L624. Nicholson, 869.

Two tears along crease-lines of folding map, front inner hinge expertly reinforced. A near-fine, handsome copy, desirable in publisher's full morocco-gilt.