"MOBILITY VERSUS POWER": PATTON'S THRICE-SIGNED COPY OF A TREATISE ON HISTORICAL WEAPONRY

(PATTON, George S.) BOUTELL, Charles. Arms and Armour in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. London: Gibbings & Company, 1902. Octavo, original blue cloth gilt. Housed in a custom clamshell box. $12,500.

General George S. Patton's signed, annotated copy of this authoritative work on weaponry from ancient times up to modern artillery and small arms, signed by Patton in ink three times: once on the front free endpaper and twice on the binding, with Patton's autograph annotations.

As a child, Patton used to imagine that he was King Arthur returned, a fantasy that proved influential as he grew older: "'There was an old iron stick or bolt in a wall near the wood house and I used to pull at the thing quite sure that it was Excalibur.' No one who knew Patton would have been surprised when, as a West Point cadet, he established the academy's first broad sword team" (Prioli, "King Arthur in Khaki: The Medievalism of General George S. Patton, Jr."). Patton's love of historical weaponry and pageantry continued throughout his life—at one point, he and his wife attended a ball in costume as Arthur and Guinevere—and in 1932, while studying at the Army War College, he purchased and read this copy of Boutell's classic reference work on armor and weapons. Later edition, following the first of 1869, illustrated with numerous plates. Translated from the French of Paul Lacombe and with a preface, notes, and one additional chapter on arms and armour in England by Boutell. Signed three times by Patton, as he often would with his books: on the front free endpaper (dated 1932), in full on the front cover and last name only on the spine; also with Patton's occasional annotations and marks of emphasis, particularly in the Greek and Roman sections. One note reads "Mobility versus Power" and another compares the ancient phalanx to "World war tactics—which we still use." Patton was known for his extensive military library, including many volumes that traveled with him during the war, and books from his library are particularly sought-after; material signed by him is additionally rather scarce, as he died following a car accident not long after the end of World War II.

Mild offsetting to frontispiece and title page; binding lightly worn overall, spine slightly toned with small rubs at ends. A very good signed copy.