Wilkerson Books and Prints

PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY of the CIVIL WAR

For your consideration is a very good copy of the ten large quarto volume set of The Photographic History of the Civil War edited by Francis Trevelyan Miller and published in 1911 by The Review of Reviews, in New York.  

This remarkable work contains thousands of photographs, many previously unpublished, taken from 1861-1865 by Mathew Brady and by private individuals.  The accompanying text contains contributions from over 39 distinguished historians and veteran officers of both Confederate and Union forces, many of whom wrote from their personal experience.

The ten volumes include 1) The Opening Battles; 2) Two Years of Grim War; 3) The Decisive Battles; 4) The Cavalry; 5) Forts and Artillery; 6) The Navies; 7) Prisons and Hospitals; 8) Soldier Life,Secret Service; 9) Poetry and Eloquence of Blue and Gray; and 10) Armies and Leaders.

The Dictionary of American Biography (DAB) states of Brady and his assistants, “Zealous in their work, often regardless of danger, and at all times handicapped by the vexing difficulties of the photographic process of that day,” Brady and his assistants “carried their cameras to every scene that promised an interesting picture,” capturing “scenes of actual conflict, others of places devastated by gunfire, of troops on the march or in bivouac, and of individual officers and men.” (The one thing they could not record was the actual battles....the photographic technology of that day required a certain stillness of the subject.)

Mr. Brady profited little from his epic Civil War photographs and died a pauper in 1896.  Fortunately for us, many of his negatives survived to be included in The Photographic History of the Civil War that was published 15 years after his death.

The copy we have is the second edition Semi-Centennial Memorial edition published in 1911 (the same year as the first edition).  It is bound in the original blue cloth covers with gilt title on spines. Top edges are gilt.  Bindings are slightly rubbed and there is slight foxing to the title pages.  Still a tight set in much better condition than usually found.                                                                                                                                       .............Our copy is priced at $750

Thank you and Happy Book Hunting!!