Tenting on the Plains, or General Custer in Kansas and Texas, by Mrs. E. B. Custer, First Edition, 1887

Custer, Elizabeth B. Tenting on the Plains or General Custer in Kansas and Texas. New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1887. First edition printing. Octavo, original embossed brown cloth boards with gilt and blue titles to spine, and new matching archival slipcase.

Presented is a first edition printing of Tenting on the Plains, or General Custer in Kansas and Texas by Elizabeth B. Custer. After President Ulysses S. Grant publicly blamed General Armstrong Custer for the disaster at Little Bighorn, Elizabeth Custer, the general’s wife, took on the role of his public defender. Beginning with her book, Boots and Saddles, in 1885, she would go on to publish a trilogy of autobiographical works about the life of her martyred husband. In Tenting on the Plains, which has been credited with adding greatly to the Custer legend, Elizabeth Custer described their marriage and experiences from the end of the Civil War and throughout subsequent Indian campaigns to 1867. 

The book is decorated with an engraved frontispiece portrait of then Brevet Major General Custer and 28 illustrations, including two maps. 

CONDITION:

Very good condition. Hardcover. Original dark brown cloth embossed boards, with a design of red, white, and blue flags as well as a Custer Medal of Honor in gilt to the front board. Gilt and blue lettering to spine, which also features Custer's sabre, in gilt. Some foxing to the tissue-guarded frontispiece engraved portrait of  Custer. Some rubbing to extremities and to top of spine. 702 pp. All pages are intact, with frontispiece engraving, 28 mid-text engravings, including 2 maps. Presented in a new custom matching cloth slipcase with a portrait of the Custers on the front. Dimensions: Book: 9 1/4" H x 6 1/2" W x 2" D. Slipcase: 9 5/8" H x 6 3/4" W x 2 1/2"D.