Instruction for Field Artillery First Edition - A. W. Stark - Bauman Rare Books

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Instruction for Field Artillery

A. W. STARK

Item#: 115090 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Instruction for Field Artillery

Instruction for Field Artillery

"AN ARTILLERY MAN MUST NEVER FORGET THAT HIS GUN IS HIS PROPER ARM; THAT HERE LIES HIS STRENGTH; THAT HERE IS HIS POST OF HONOR AND DUTY": RARE FIRST EDITION OF STARK'S INSTRUCTION FOR FIELD ARTILLERY, PUBLISHED IN RICHMOND IN 1864

STARK, A.W. Instruction for Field Artillery; Compiled from Standard Military Authority; Embracing Schools of the Piece, Battery, and Battalion or Evolutions of Batteries; with an Instructive Appendix. Richmond: A. Morris, 1864. Octavo, stitched as issued, early marbled paper boards respined in patterned cloth, original mounted cover label.

Rare first edition of this Confederate field artillery manual, published in Richmond in 1864, the year of the Grant's Overland Campaign, Sheridan's Valley Campaign, and Sherman's March to the Sea.

Bearing recommendations from two prominent members of the Confederacy, Major General Elzey and General Samuel Cooper, Stark's Instruction for Field Artillery offers easy instruction on everything from organizing field batteries to bugle calls. This work was published by Richmond's leading book publisher and bookseller, Adolphus Morris. Morris published in all manner of genres from literature to religion to politics. He was also the owner of eight slaves—all listed as mulatto—and spent the Civil War publishing many works for his Confederate audience, from polemics arguing that slaves needed masters to be happy to Confederate military manuals like this one. Parrish & Willingham 2327. Faint contemporary owner gift inscription to Col. C.O. Sandford, a civil engineer who directed the building of the Norfolk & Western Railroad between Petersburg and Lynchburg and who became the president of the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad shortly before this inscription. Evidence of bookplate removal.

Closed tear to page 51 expertly repaired, affecting lettering but not readability, joints expertly reinforced. Rare.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
Association Copy copy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book.
Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.
Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).
Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
Chromolithograph Lithograph printed in colors, typically three or more.
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Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies.
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Engraving Illustration produced by carving lines into a metal plate. This is an intaglio process, in which ink is poured over the plate, then wiped from the surface, leaving ink only in the recesses made by the engraver’s tools. The image is then transferred by pressing thick dampened paper against the metal plate with great force—requiring engravings to be printed on a separate stock and separate press from any text.
Errata List of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block.
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Marginalia Handwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner.
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Modern Recently accomplished, when used to describe a book’s binding that is not the original casing. Some books bound recently are bound using techniques, tools and styles of the period of the book’s original issue; when done well this is called a period-style binding, a term that implies “modern” as well.
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Offset The unintended transfer of ink from one printed page to an adjacent page.
Period-Style binding executed with materials, tools and techniques to approximate the look of a contemporary binding from the period of the book’s publication. The term implies that the binding is modern, or recent, unless otherwise specified.
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Recase To reattach a text block to its binding when it has become loose from its covers.
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Trade Edition Printing or printings of a book made available for purchase by the general public on publication day (as opposed to a limited edition, often available only by subscription).
Uncut When the edges of the text block (most apparent at the fore and lower edges) have not been trimmed to a uniform size, and are therefore characterized by a ragged or deckle edge. A book may be uncut but opened—i.e., with a paper-knife—but all unopened books (see below) are by nature uncut as well.
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Verso The back or reverse side of a leaf or page. (See “recto.”)
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
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