Two books from the personal library of General Winfield Scott Hancock (1824-1886), one used when he was a student at West Point.

An excellent selection of books from the personal library of General Winfield Scott Hancock, which passed onto the descendants of General William Tecumseh Sherman when Hancock's granddaughter Almyra Russell Hancock married William Tecumseh Sherman's grandson, William Sherman Fitch. They were married in December 1899, as reported in The Standard Union (Brooklyn, New York, 21 December 1899). The books were then gifted (as indicated by the inscription in the Treatise) in 1901 to General Sherman's son, Philemon Tecumseh Sherman, the custodian of his father’s library.

Winfield Scott Hancock began his distinguished military career when he was nominated to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1840. The first book offered here, a first-edition copy of James D. Dana’s highly regarded treatise on minerals, was used by Hancock while a cadet. Its preface is inscribed with his name, the date ("Sept 1- 43”), and “U.S.M.A."

The lot includes:

1. James Dwight Dana (1813-1895). A System of Mineralogy: Including an Extended Treatise on Crystallography. New Haven, Durrie & Peck and Herrick & Noyes, 1837. 8vo. Contemporary full calf with gilt morocco spine label. With Hancock's bookplate and inventory number (No. 55) to interior front board. INSCRIBED BY HANCOCK to Preface while a student West Point: "Winfield S. Hancock / Sept 1- 43 / U. S. M. A."

2. Baron Antoine Henri Jomini (1779-1869). Colonel Samuel Beckley Holabird. Treatise on Grand Military Operations: Or a Critical and Military History of the Wars of Frederick the Great. New York and London: D. Van Nostrand and Trübner & Co., 1865. 2 volumes, 8vo. Original red cloth. First Holabird edition. With bookplate of "Major General Winfield S. Hancock" and inventory numbers (No. 640 & 641) and P. Tecumseh Sherman bookplate. INSCRIBED BY HOLABIRD TO HANCOCK to front free endpaper: "To Major General W.S. Hancock U.S. Army with compliments of Translator." INSCRIBED BY PHILEMON TECUMSEH SHERMAN: "P.T. Sherman from Myra Hancock Fitch Mch. 1901."

Hancock graduated 18th in class at West Point and received an officer’s commission in the 6th United States Infantry, stationed in the Red River Valley. During the Mexican-American War, he successfully recruited soldiers in Kentucky before securing a position in Mexico, where he saw action. Hancock was wounded at Battle of Churubusco and a subsequent infection kept him from the invasion of Mexico City, but he ended the war a first lieutenant. Hancock remained in the Army in peacetime, with assignments at Fort Snelling, Minnesota; St. Louis, Missouri; a tour in Florida during the Third Seminole War; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas during the Bleeding Kansas partisan warfare; Utah Territory; and southern California. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he returned east to assume quartermaster duties, but was quickly promoted to brigadier general and given command. His "superb" counterattack at the Battle of Williamsburg earned him the nickname “Hancock the Superb.” Hancock saw action at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, where he was wounded various times.

General Hancock is best remembered for his role during the Battle of Gettysburg, where he organized Union defenses on Cemetery Hill, held the line, and bore the brunt of Pickett's Charge. His heroic efforts are widely credited for the resulting Union victory. His health suffered after recuperating from Gettysburg, but he rejoined command during General Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign.

Jomini's Treatise on Grand Military Operations was a work widely used at military academies. The copy offered here was a new translation by Samuel B. Holabird, who had also served as a quartermaster prior to the Civil War and was almost certainly well-acquainted with Hancock. Holabird continued as a quartermaster throughout the Civil War until he became ill in the summer of 1863. It was during his period of leave that he prepared this translation. Here, Holabird has sent a copy to his colleague.

As a war hero and states-rights’ advocate, Hancock was put forth as a presidential Democratic candidate in 1880, but lost by a razor-thin narrow margin to Grover Cleveland. The two books offered here evidently passed to his granddaughter and her family sometime after his death in 1886. Hancock clearly kept a well-ordered library with inventory numbers assigned to each volume. Though several institutions hold letters from Hancock, no library seems to hold the bulk of his collection and it was likely scattered amongst family and friends. We found no other volumes tied to the Hancock library.

A rare opportunity to own volumes owned by the hero of Gettysburg, General Winfield Scott Hancock.

Condition: Dana volume, board detached, scuffing to leather; Jomini, some staining, minor wear to spine caps.

PROVENANCE:

The Sherman-Fitch Library

Primarily assembled by General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), the collection of books was inherited and curated by his son, Philemon Tecumseh Sherman (1867-1941). Before his death, Philemon transferred the library to his niece, Eleanor Sherman Fitch (1876-1959). Eleanor was the granddaughter of General Sherman through his eldest daughter, Maria "Minnie" Ewing Sherman Fitch (1851-1913). Until now, the Sherman-Fitch library was held at the family estate in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

The library includes a range of diverse material owned by General Sherman that principally relates to the Civil War, American history, and the Sherman family. Many works in the Sherman-Fitch library are historically significant, including General Sherman's annotated copy of Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, the Sherman family bible, and Barnard's "Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign."

Most examples in the collection are affixed with bookplates that bear both General Sherman's and Philemon's names. In some cases, where General Sherman's ownership was clear, his bookplate was not always affixed. However, books with just Philemon's bookplate were generally acquired after his father's death in 1891. General Sherman’s bookplates were likely added by Philemon after his father’s death. Philemon’s bookplates were placed by Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (1908-1969) after he inherited the library in 1942.

[Civil War, Mexican-American War, Mexican War, Union, Confederate, Books, Generals, Ephemera]