GRANT, Ulysses S.

Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant.

First edition of The Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant; finely bound with the signatures of Ulysses S. Grant and Julia Dent Grant

New York: Charles L. Webster & Company, 1885-1886.

$4,000.00

Out of Stock Item Number: RRB-146753

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First edition of Grant's renowned autobiography, written on his deathbed at the behest of Mark Twain and now widely considered one of the best memoirs written by an American president, with laid in signatures of both Ulysses and Julia Grant. Octavo, bound in three quarter 20th century crushed levant morocco over marbled boards with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised bands, top edge gilt, illustrated with numerous steel engravings, facsimiles, and 43 maps. With the signature of Ulysses S. Grant on a stiff card with gilt edges tipped in to the front free endpaper of Vol I. and calling card of Julia Dent Grant inscribed, "Julia D. Grant April 14th 83 N. York" tipped in to the front free endpaper of Vol II. In near fine condition. A very attractive set.

Suffering both physically and financially, as a result of terminal throat cancer and financial misfortune, Grant began writing his autobiography in the fall of 1884 and finished in July of 1885, five days before his death. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) encouraged Grant and shepherded the book to publication through the Webster connection. Eagerly anticipated by a public that had been following Grant's illness in the press, the book was an immediate success upon release and has long been considered one of if not the best memoirs written by an American president. Since publication it has received acclaim from such wide-ranging figures as Mark Twain, Gertrude Stein, Edmund Wilson, Eric Foner, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. "The best memoirs of any general's since Caesar" (Mark Twain). "A unique expression of the national character... Grant has conveyed the suspense which was felt by himself and his army and by all who believed in the Union cause. The reader finds himself on edge to know how the Civil War is coming out" (Edmund Wilson). “Grant’s memoirs comprise one of the most valuable writings by a military commander in history” (Eicher 492).