Lossing, Pictorial Book of Revolution 1859 2vol Ed.
"The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution; Or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War For Independence", by Benson J. Lossing, published by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1859. Copyright by Harper 1850. First edition, early printing. Complete both volumes
Each volume illustrated with a vignette title page and frontispiece. With several hundred engravings on wood, by Lossing and Barritt, chiefly from original sketches by the author. Each volume lacks the advertisement catalog. Howes L-477. Sabin 42129. According to Sabin: "It contains many details and anecdotes which are not to be found in any other work ... the earliest edition is much to be preferred on account of the clearness of the woodcuts"
Benson Lossing (1813-1891) was one of America's first notable historians and was known for his diligence to primary sources which set him apart. He is best known for his illustrated books on the American Revolution and American Civil War and features in "Harper's Magazine". He was a charter trustee of Vassar College.
Around 1848, Lossing conceived the idea of writing a narrative sketchbook on the American Revolution. The first installment was published in "Harper's New Monthly Magazine" in 1850; the completed "Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution" was published in 1853. To gather material for the work, Lossing traveled some 8,000 miles throughout the United States and Canada. As with his subsequent books, his pen and ink drawings served as the primary illustrations when turned into woodcuts. The book won him critical acclaim and general reputation.
Lossing's significance as a historian derives from his diligence in seeking out primary records, his interviews with participants of events and intimates of his biographical subjects, and his care to weigh and contrast details of his various sources. Although such efforts are today a standard among historians, in Lossing's time they were not. Historiography was not yet a discipline. Washington Irving, with whom he corresponded, wrote, "I have been gratified at finding how scrupulously attentive you have been to accuracy to facts, which is so essential in writings of an historical nature." This made him an essential secondary source for contemporary and succeeding historians and enough of an institution for Theodore Roosevelt in his "Naval War of 1812" to adduce simply "Lossing" in stating a fact, in the same manner as historians use the figure "Gibbon" or "Toynbee"
Rates vary per country, we will adjust shipping costs with the invoice.
US: Media (c 4-10 days) --------- $15.50
Canada: Priority (c. 2-6 weeks) - $58.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) --- $94.50
Condition Report: Hard boards, original publisher's three-quarter leather over marbled boards [some wear]; 7" x 10"; dark-brown colored endpapers; the former owner name on the first blank pages of both volumes is covered; X+783+772 pages; the Index to both volumes is at the end of the second volume. Very little soiling, very good condition.
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"The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution; Or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War For Independence", by Benson J. Lossing, published by Harper & Brothers, New York, 1859. Copyright by Harper 1850. First edition, early printing. Complete both volumes
Each volume illustrated with a vignette title page and frontispiece. With several hundred engravings on wood, by Lossing and Barritt, chiefly from original sketches by the author. Each volume lacks the advertisement catalog. Howes L-477. Sabin 42129. According to Sabin: "It contains many details and anecdotes which are not to be found in any other work ... the earliest edition is much to be preferred on account of the clearness of the woodcuts"
Benson Lossing (1813-1891) was one of America's first notable historians and was known for his diligence to primary sources which set him apart. He is best known for his illustrated books on the American Revolution and American Civil War and features in "Harper's Magazine". He was a charter trustee of Vassar College.
Around 1848, Lossing conceived the idea of writing a narrative sketchbook on the American Revolution. The first installment was published in "Harper's New Monthly Magazine" in 1850; the completed "Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution" was published in 1853. To gather material for the work, Lossing traveled some 8,000 miles throughout the United States and Canada. As with his subsequent books, his pen and ink drawings served as the primary illustrations when turned into woodcuts. The book won him critical acclaim and general reputation.
Lossing's significance as a historian derives from his diligence in seeking out primary records, his interviews with participants of events and intimates of his biographical subjects, and his care to weigh and contrast details of his various sources. Although such efforts are today a standard among historians, in Lossing's time they were not. Historiography was not yet a discipline. Washington Irving, with whom he corresponded, wrote, "I have been gratified at finding how scrupulously attentive you have been to accuracy to facts, which is so essential in writings of an historical nature." This made him an essential secondary source for contemporary and succeeding historians and enough of an institution for Theodore Roosevelt in his "Naval War of 1812" to adduce simply "Lossing" in stating a fact, in the same manner as historians use the figure "Gibbon" or "Toynbee"
Rates vary per country, we will adjust shipping costs with the invoice.
US: Media (c 4-10 days) --------- $15.50
Canada: Priority (c. 2-6 weeks) - $58.50
World: Priority (c.2-8 weeks) --- $94.50
Condition Report: Hard boards, original publisher's three-quarter leather over marbled boards [some wear]; 7" x 10"; dark-brown colored endpapers; the former owner name on the first blank pages of both volumes is covered; X+783+772 pages; the Index to both volumes is at the end of the second volume. Very little soiling, very good condition.
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