Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, Shoulder Strap Edition, First Edition, Two-Volume Set, 1885-1886

Grant, Ulysses S. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. New York: Charles L. Webster and Co., 1885-1886. Two volume set. First edition. Octavos. Green cloth boards with gilt medallions, titles, and “shoulder strap” design on the spine. Rebacked. Illustrated with illustrations, maps, and facsimiles. With a new archival green cloth slipcase. 

This first edition two-volume set of Ulysses S. Grant’s Personal Memoirs was published in 1885 and 1886, by Charles L. Webster and Company, New York. This “shoulder strap” edition is artfully bound in green cloth with gilt medallions and titles to the front boards and a gilt-decorated spine band that evokes the stars on an officer’s shoulder strap. The volumes feature portrait frontispiece engravings of Grant, as well as black and white illustrations, numerous maps, and several facsimiles, but is missing the fold-out facsimile of Lee's Surrender. Grant’s Memoirs recount his childhood and personal history, his military career during the Mexican-American War, and offer historical perspective to his role in the American Civil War. 

Written in the final stages of his throat cancer, Grant still managed a lengthy memoir remarkable for the clarity of its prose and the expansive scope of its vision. Sticking mostly to facts, he also offered strong opinions on major figures like Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Robert E. Lee. He discussed the causes of the war and offered a preferred course for a postwar America.

The Memoirs were originally sold door-to-door by former Union soldiers. More than 300,000 copies were sold by subscription alone, thanks in large part to his war hero status and Presidential celebrity. The books became a common household staple in support of Grant and his family, who received 75% of the net royalties from the work and managed to re-establish their fortune with the sales. Mark Twain is partially credited with encouraging Grant to write his memoirs, as he predicted the work to be a source of future financial success that would support Grant’s family after his death. Volume I was published posthumously in 1885, after Grant died in July of the same year. 

Twain wrote in his personal autobiography of 1924: “I had been comparing the [Grant] memoirs with Caesar's Commentaries… I placed the two books side by side on the same level.” Similarly, the book was applauded by individuals such as Gertrude Stein and Matthew Arnold during its time. “No Union list of personal narratives could possibly begin without the story of the victorious general. A truly remarkable work” (New York Times). “Grant’s memoirs comprise one of the most valuable writings by a military commander in history” (Eicher 492). For some time, Grant's work was overshadowed by his critics. However, today's scholars now recognize Grant as one of the most influential and progressive leaders the country has seen, especially given that he was elected during one of the most difficult times in American history. 

CONDITION:

Very good condition. First Edition. Two Volumes. Green cloth boards, with gilt medallions and title on front boards. Gilt titles and shoulder strap binding to spine. Professionally rebacked. Interior is mostly clean, with light toning and mild staining, occasional foxing. Illustrated with frontispiece portraits, numerous illustrations, facsimiles, and maps. Missing one facsimile of Lee's Surrender, from Vol II, pg. 496 -497. 

Book Dimensions: ~ 9 1/2" H x 6 5/8" W x 1 7/8" D (each volume). 

Slipcase Dimensions: 9 7/8" H x 6 3/4" W x 4 3/8" D.

Accompanied by our company's letter of authenticity.