(CIVIL WAR--HISTORY.) Abner Doubleday. His personal copy, marked with revisions, of his book "Chancellorsville and Gettysburg," issued as Volume VI in the "Campaigns of the Civil War" series. Numerous maps and plans. xi, [5], 243, [4] pages including publisher's ads at end. Large 12mo, publisher's gilt cloth, moderate wear; front hinge split, other minor wear, marked up with revisions (mostly in red ink) on 20 pages with other additions; inscribed on flyleaf "Maj. Genl. Abner Doubleday, E.H. Ross" (not in Doubleday's hand) and signed by his wife "Mrs. Abner Doubleday, Mendham, Morris Co., N.J." on front free endpaper. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1882 with revisions circa 1892 First edition, marked up with his revisions for a later edition. Abner Doubleday (1819-1893) was a Union Major General who should be best remembered for commanding the I Corps on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, blunting the onslaught of a much larger Confederate force until the Union Army could regroup. He is actually remembered more for something completely fictional (his alleged invention of baseball), but he was an important general.
The revisions found in this book, clearly in his hand, did not appear in the 1885 reissue of the book, but most of them did appear in the 1892 and 1912 editions. The revisions appear on pages 49, 54, 57, 61, 101, 103, 129, 184, 195, 196, 210, 213, 215, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 229, and 232. For example, Doubleday added a footnote to page 49, softening his assessment of General Joseph W. Revere's performance at Chancellorsville. On page 61, a footnote was added praising the heroism of the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry at the same battle. On page 196, Doubleday added a footnote with an anecdote about the heroism of an artillery lieutenant named Woodruff. Two minor revisions (on pages 50 and 213), the only ones in black ink, did not make the 1892 edition. A manuscript footnote at the base of page 103, regarding the narrow escape of Rhode Island cavalry colonel George N. Bliss at Gettysburg, also did not make the later edition. In addition to the revisions, a clipped 1886 newspaper article by Doubleday is laid down to the rear flyleaf, and a pencil battle plan on graph paper titled "Position of I Division II Corps, May 2d 1863," 3¼ x 5¼ inches, is laid down to the rear free endpaper. This plan is not reproduced in the 1892 edition.
WITH--other papers tracing to Doubleday's wife Mary Hewitt Doubleday (1823-1907):
Abner Doubleday. "Reminiscences of Fort Sumter and Moultrie in 1860-'61." 184, 8 pages. 8vo, publisher's gilt pictorial cloth, worn; occasional pencil marks in margins; inscribed on front flyleaf "Mrs. Abner Doubleday." New York: Harper & Brothers, 1876.
John S. McCalmont. Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs. Doubleday. Discusses her request for extra copies of a pamphlet, presumably a memorial tribute to Abner Doubleday in a West Point alumni publication. "I had not sufficient ability and experience in such compositions to do justice to the various merits of your dear husband." McCalmont was a West Point graduate who had served as a colonel in the Civil War. Washington, 29 September 1893.
Mary [Doubleday?] Autograph Letter Signed to cousin Emmie. Discusses a program for the dedication of an Abner Doubleday memorial tablet at West Point: "Be sure and read the commander's speech and Col. Mills' reply." Abraham G. Mills, an old friend of Doubleday's and the organizer of this West Point memorial event, would soon lead the 1905 commission to determine the origins of baseball which erroneously immortalized Doubleday as the sport's inventor. Morristown, NJ, 2 December 1900.