Early Jubal


Jubal Early, Former Confederate General, Informs Young Edward Bok That He Did not Receive the Document Bok Sent Him


Autograph Letter Signed to Edward W. Bok, Lynchburg, Va., April 2, 1882, 2 pp. (4 pp with 2 integral blank pages) , 4? x 8 in.


In full: "Lynchburg Virginia April 2nd 1882 / Sir: / I am just in receipt of yours of yesterday (The 1st), and in reply I have to inform you that I have not received the document to which you refer, as sent to me on the 15th of last month, or anything whatever from you except the note which came & mail to day./Will you be so good as to inform me of the character of the document sent me, and whether by mail or by express./ If sent by mail, and it was a printed document, it is possible that you have omitted to put enough in the ways of postage stamps in the package, and it was not therefore sent, but thrown into a waste basket. / I enclose postage stamps for your reply, as from your stamen the matter affects me personally. / If the document to which you refer is a printed one, and another copy can be obtained, I will be willing to pay for it on being informed of its character. / Answer immediately as I shall leave here on Thursday, the 6th (?) for New Orleans and will possibly be absent two or three weeks. If you get this promptly, and answer at once, your answer can reach me here before I leave./ Very Respectfully Your Obdt Servt /J A Early / Edward W. Bok Esqr"



Historical Background


The purpose of the correspondence between Confederate Generals and Edward Bok was to acquire autographs, and valuable Civil War information for “The American Pantheon,” a project Bok was clearly excited about, but that never seemed to materialize.


Jubal Anderson Early (1816-1894), initially opposed secession, but became of a fervent supporter of the Confederacy. He is credited with several victories, including the First and Second Battle of Bull Run. Infamous for his crude language and habits, Early was famously called “Lee’s Bad Old Man”. Early never surrendered to the Union, evading capture in his home state of Virginia before fleeing in exile to Mexico and later Canada. President Johnson pardoned Early in 1868, despite the fact that he never took the oath of loyalty to the Union other rebel leaders were compelled to take.


Edward William Bok (1863–1930) was a Dutch born American editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. He was born in Den Helder, The Netherlands. At the age of six, he immigrated to Brooklyn, New York, USA, and became an office boy with the Western Union Telegraph Company in 1876. In 1882, he began work with Henry Holt and Company, and then, in 1884, he became involved with Charles Scribner’s Sons, where he eventually became its advertising manager. From 1884 until 1887, Bok was the editor of The Brooklyn Magazine. His 1920 autobiography, The Americanization of Edward Bok, won the Gold Medal of the Academy of Political and Social Science and the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. Edward W. Bok died on January 9, 1930.



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