Soldier's Letters to Charming Nellie.
Item #73575
POLLEY, J[oseph] B[enjamin]. A Soldier's Letters to Charming Nellie. New York: The Neale Publishing Company, 1908. 1st ed. 317 pp. Portrait frontis., portraits. Orig. cloth, T.e.g. Faint edgewear, very old waterstain to foredge, not affecting text, else very good. Krick 402. Presentation inscription from the author on front free endpaper, "To the Rev. J. B. Cole with the compliments of the author, J.B. Polley, March 10th 1908." Sgt. Polley gives a firsthand account of life with John Bell Hood's Texas Brigade. He participated in the Battles of Seven Pines, Gaines' Mill, Second bull run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, and the Wilderness Campaign. "This volume is among the most interesting and valuable primary sources connected with the First Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. Questions have been raised about the authenticity of what purport to be contemporary letters from the front. Their polish is probably indicative of post-war construction. The use of this medium of presentation should not detract from the well-written and largely accurate contents of the 'letters' any more than a publication of similar origins written in conventional narrative style. The high human quality of Polley's accounts blends well with the less subjective chronological style of his history of the brigade. It is unfortunate that this is among the more difficult of the Neale titles to locate on the rare book market." Krick.
Price: $500.00