Description
A scarce first edition, first state of Boots and Saddles by Elizabeth B. Custer. Octavo, 312pp. Brown cloth, title in gilt on spine, embossed decorative illustrations on front panel. Wear along edges with some fraying of cloth. Brown end papers with wear at hinges. The first edition, first state of Boots and Saddles, with no mention of Maps or Frontispiece on title page. The second state includes a frontispiece portrait and map of the Dakota Territories. (Howes C980).
Comments: After President Ulysses S. Grant publicly blamed General Custer for the disaster at Little Big Horn, 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 three books about the life of her martyred husband. This work is the first book of the trilogy written by Mrs. Custer.
