Description
From the personal library of General George B. McClellan, the Atlas To The Memoirs of John Duke of Marlborough, published in 1848.
Quarto, [26 plates and maps]. Publisher’s green cloth, stamped in blind on cover. Yellow endpapers. Wear to cloth at the spine, hinges sold, but starting. Light toning to plates, some wear along edges of maps and plates. This work is complete with 26 plates, maps and letterpress references. Maps all in near fine condition, bright illustrations, hand-colored battle installations and troop movements. All maps fold-out.
This work is from the personal library of General George B. McClellan, with his armoral bookplate on the front endpaper and signed by him on the title page.
While studying the military campaigns of Marlborough in 1860, McClellan wrote: “…the old profession stirs my blood & delights me more than any other pursuit….it is war on a large scale that interests me.” (Letter to Mary Ellen Marcy, Jan. 25, 1860)
George B. McClellan (1826-1885) was accepted at the United States Military Academy in 1842, at the age of 15. As a student, he was focused on the history of warfare, with a “growing personal library that already numbered several hundred volumes.” McClellan continued his studies after graduating second in his class from West Point, expanding his library to over 500 volumes, focusing on the campaigns of “Caesar, Marlborough, and Frederick the Great.” Upon his death in 1885, the majority of his library was bequeathed to his children and the Library of Congress. This is one of a handful of volumes in private collections.
