For Collectors Only

Abstract

For Collectors Only EDITED BY RALPH G. NEWMAN 18 East Chestnut Street Chicago 11, Illinois COVERING THE CIVIL WAR "BEAT" these days we are constantly reminded that there is a "Civil War revival ," and that books relating to the War Between the States are (at least according to some authorities) outselling all other books in both the fiction and nonfiction fields. Life devotes 18 pages to the epic story; Time features a special section with color photographs of the battlefields ; Collier's begins a new series with an elaborate (and expertly written) account of Lincoln's visit to Richmond; the usually blasé New Yorker devotes its entire literary section to a discussion of Civil War books; Holiday has begun publishing accounts of the major battles and other publications follow suit and plan even more impressive tributes to the Lincoln-Lee era. New Civil War books are appearing at the staggering rate of more than a new title a week and at least one book club which attempts to distribute literature in this field has had to determine whether to become a "bookof -the-week club" or reconcile itself to distributing what its editors believe are the better books. It was not always this way. Many of us recall the not-too-distant past when a first-rate Civil War title might be considered a success if the publisher could manage to sell 3,500 copies and a 5,000 copy sale was regarded as amazing. Sad enough, some of the best books in our favorite field never even reached these figures. Among the titles that graced the "remainder" lists were such classics as Marshall's An Aide-de-Camp of Lee, Sir Frederick Maurice's Statesmen and Leaders of the Civil War and the first edition of Randall's Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln. 75 76R A L G H G. N E W M A X Ordeal By Fire, the Fletcher Pratt book appeared on the list of non bestsellers until the new boom rescued it from publishing oblivion. It seems incredible to think that ten years ago the editor of the best single volume collection of the writings and speeches of Abraham Lincoln almost sold his rights to the book for a few hundred dollars because almost every major publisher had decided that a satisfactory market did not exist for the work. It was finally accepted and has remained in print ever since and I suspect will remain in the publisher's catalogue as long as the firm remains in business. The plates of Robert Selph Henry's "First with the Most" Forrest and Stanley F. Horn's The Army of Tennessee were melted down and the most colossal blunder of all occurred when the greatest of all of the classics, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, was allowed to go out-of-print. What caused the present boom? Some say it is the imminence of the Civil War centennial; others that interest is cyclical and at regular intervals reappears. It would seem to your editor that good books and writing were responsible for the present happy state of Civil War affairs. I figure it all began back in 1926 when a comparatively young but already prematurely gray-haired poet and newspaperman turned to the writing of American history and the first two volumes of Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln appeared. Sandburg showed that it was possible to write history and write excitingly at the same time. This was not new — Carlyle had known it, but evidently too many had forgotten or had never known the technique. It required a combination of genius, curiosity and story-telling ability. Stephen Vincent Benét's John Brown's Body, published in 1928, helped stir the kettle. The journalists were about to take over from the academicians. The Civil War was just another "beat" and they covered Grant and Lee, the Shenandoah Valley and Shiloh just as they had handled local crime, the world series or current politics. Lloyd Lewis, Douglas Southall Freeman, Allan Nevins (newspaperman turned professor), Stanley F. Horn, John W. Thomason, Jr., Robert Selph Henry and a lovely lady named Margaret Mitchell and many, many others put real...