A m e r i c a n a 60 “One Of The Most Valuable Writings By A Military Commander In History” 76. GRANT, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant. New York, 1885-86. Two volumes. Octavo, original deluxe full brown morocco gilt. $6800. First edition of “one of the most valuable writings by a military commander in history,” illustrated with numerous steel engravings, facsimiles and 43 maps, in handsome publisher’s deluxe full morocco binding. After an ineffectual term as president, ruined by bankruptcy and dying of throat cancer, Grant agreed to publish his memoirs to provide ameasure of economic security for his family. Mark Twain agreed to serve as the publisher. Struggling to dictate his notes to a stenographer, Grant finished his memoirs shortly before his death in the summer of 1885. “No Union list of personal narratives could possibly begin without the story of the victorious general. A truly remarkable work” (New York Times). “Grant’s memoirs comprise one of the most valuable writings by a military commander in history” (Eicher 492). A fine copy, very scarce in the publisher’s deluxe full morocco. “One Of The Best Accounts Of How Runaway Slaves Made Their Way To Freedom” 75. STILL, William. Still’s Underground Rail Road Records. Revised Edition. With a Life of the Author. Philadelphia, 1883. Thick octavo, original gilt-stamped brown cloth. $2800. First expanded and revised edition of Still’s major history of the Underground Railroad—“the only work on that subject written by an African American”—with engraved frontispiece portrait of Still, famed as father of the Underground Railroad, featuring Boyd’s “Life and Work,” profusely illustrated with 23 full-page and numerous in-text engravings. Leading African American abolitionist Still, the father of the Underground Railroad, was born a free man to former slaves and was chairman of Philadelphia’s Vigilance Committee. As “the 19thcentury’s foremost chronicler of the Underground Railroad” (Piloski &Williams, 1013), he “illustrates the inventiveness of runaways, the desperate struggles of enslaved families, and the network” that led to Canada (Sinha, 536). Work, 338. Text fine with expert reinforcement to inner paper hinges, trace of soiling to bright cloth. A highly desirable about-fine copy.
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