Three Years in Field Hospitals of the Army of the Potomac.

HOLSTEIN, Anna Morris.

$1,500.00

Item Number: 101404

Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co, 1867.

First edition of Anna Morris Holstein’s “perceptive reminiscences [of] the decidedly unglamorous side of war with the Army of the Potomac” (Nevins II, 128). Octavo, original cloth with gilt titles to the spine. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the second free endpaper, “Mrs. David Haines From Anna M. Holstein Nov 15th 1886.” The recipient’s husband, David Haines, was enlisted in the 3rd Cavalry of the Union Army during the Civil War. A previous owner has completed the author’s printed name “Mrs. H.” as “Mrs. Holstein” on the title page an introduction. In very good condition with minor loss to the crown and foot of the spine. Scarce and desirable in the original cloth and signed by the author. An important eye-witness account of northern hospitals during the Civil War.

Anna Morris Holstein and her husband William H. Holstein enlisted with the U.S. Sanitation Commission following William's service in the Pennsylvania militia during Lee’s 1862 invasion. After witnessing the carnage at Antietam, the wealthy couple felt called to serve their country, as Anna noted, “we have no right to the comforts of our home, while so many of the noblest of our land renounce theirs.” Anna struggled with the grisly realities of war and later admitted that she was frequently of little use until she could gain control of her composure and stop crying. Following the war, publisher J.B. Lippincott capitalized on the hunger for war stories, first with Hospital Sketches, then less successfully with Notes of Hospital Life (1864).