[TEN LITHOGRAPHED MILITARY MANUALS, WITH SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL, PRINTED AT THE LITHOGRAPHIC PRESS AT THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY, BOUND TOGETHER FOR GEN. JOSEPH HOOKER WHILE A CADET AT WEST POINT]

by [West Point Lithography]:

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Book desription: West Point. [nd, ca. 1833-1837].. Various paginations. Folio. Contemporary three-quarter sheep and paper boards, gilt morocco label of "J. Hooker" on front board. Rubbed, scuffed, and edgeworn, chipped at spine ends. Ex-lib. with small bookplate on front pastedown. Pencil notes, likely in Hooker's hand. Internally clean, tight, and very good. In a cloth case, leather label. A remarkable contemporary bound volume of ten military and technical manuals, with supplemental material, printed for use by the cadets at West Point at the school's lithographic press. Although a few of these works turn up individually in library catalogues (most notably in the CATALOGUE OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY compiled in 1876, which lists some of the titles collectively and individually), most were issued in very limited numbers solely for the use of cadets at the Military Academy, and consequently all are very rare. The volume in hand thus presents a trove of specimens from one of the most interesting early American lithographic presses. Little is known about the school's lithographic establishment, founded in 1831, but one can surmise that George Aspinwall, whose name appears as lithographer on the final two works in this collection, was hired to meet the school's need for detailed, well illustrated instruction manuals. An article, "Tentative List of Textbooks Used in the United States Military Academy 1802-1902," published in the CENTENNIAL OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY...1802-1902 (GPO, 1904), includes only some of the titles present here, at times listing them under the famed military educator, Capt. D.H. Mahan, and sometimes with later dates of publication, indicating likelihood that these books were reprinted over the years. The technical subject matter covered in these books is fascinating, and illustrative of the increasingly professional nature of military training and of West Point. As Barton Hacker has noted: "Pursuing the art of war could now begin from a solid base, the underlying principles codified as military science to be taught in the classroom...." At West Point the 1830s brought a new era in the course of study, based on the experiences of Capt. Mahan in France, which gave rise to the courses of study exemplified in these manuals. Michael Twyman has detailed the operations of the British lithographic press at Chatham and the French military lithographers at Metz. The latter certainly served as the model for Mahan, who introduced similar practices to West Point. Besides their significance for military science, engineering, and architecture, these works are specimens of American lithography, produced at a relatively early date, with much skill and attention to detail. Although all quite rare, they were plainly works of great influence, since they would have been studied by all West Point graduates of the era, many of them men who shaped American history over the coming decades. This volume was owned and compiled by Gen. Joseph Hooker, a skillful military commander and an ambitious officer, who graduated from West Point in 1837. It would seem that he had these manuals bound up while he was at West Point, or perhaps soon after his graduation, and thus preserved copies of the actual textbooks he used as a student. Upon graduation, Hooker served in Florida, the Northeast, and at West Point, until finding his first professional success during the Mexican War. In that conflict "he performed so superbly both as a staff and combat officer that he received three brevet promotions, the final one to lieutenant colonel. No other northern commander of the coming Civil War emerged from the Mexican conflict with a better record or higher reputation than Hooker" (ANB). In the 1840s he was transferred to Sonoma, California, but became disenchanted by military life and resigned in 1853, engaging in ranching and business, dabbling in politics, and incurring a large personal debt. In 1861 he applied to be reinstated to the army, and was appointed brigadier general by Lincoln. Hooker distinguished himself at several battles, including Seven Days, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg, and he earned the sobriquet, "Fighting Joe Hooker." In January 1863, Lincoln elevated him to commander of the Army of the Potomac. Hooker resigned the commission in mid-1863 following a defeat at the hands of Lee and Jackson at Chancellorsville, but went on to distinguish himself in Tennessee and as a commander in William T. Sherman's march through the South, despite the fact that he and Sherman largely detested each other. Though Hooker's name has come down through history associated with excessive drink and licentiousness, the truth about the man is much more complex, and his accomplishments are significant. One scholar has offered this balanced assessment of Hooker's military abilities: "First, he had few equals and perhaps no superior among Union generals as a commander of a corps or any force he could personally supervise and inspire. Second, he was deficient, as revealed at Chancellorsville, in those qualities of mind and temperament needed to lead a large army in a successful offensive campaign against a foe as redoubtable as Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. But, then, the only northern general who ever did so was Grant, and it took him a year and 100,000 casualties to do it. Thus it is quite possible that if Hooker had gone against any Confederate army commander other than Lee, he would have garnered the glory he sought" (ANB). The works are as follow: 1) NOTES SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE COURSE OF PERMANENT FORTIFICATION [caption title]. 26pp. plus two folding plates (one plate split with loss of half). With pencil marginalia in Hooker's hand. A detailed course on all manner and size of forts and fortifications, and how to attack and defend them. The final portion covers the intricacies of accurately drawing fortifications. 2) NOTE ON THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES OF FORTIFICATION TO THE DETERMINATION OF THE TRAÇÉ AND RELIEF OF A BASTIONED FRONT ON A HORIZONTAL PLANE OF SITE [caption title]. 52pp. plus five folding plates. With pencil underlining and marginal computations in Hooker's hand. A highly technical manual on the drawing and construction of forts and fortifications. 3) PROBLEMS OF DESCRIPTIVE GEOMETRY REFERRED TO ONE PLANE OF PROJECTION. 20pp. plus two folding plates. With Hooker's pencil notes on the verso of one of the plates. More consideration of the properties of forts, their construction, and their attack or defense, from a mathematical perspective. 4) NOTES ON THE ATTACK AND DEFENCE OF PERMANENT WORKS [caption title]. 36pp. plus four plates (three folding). An important early American manual on the science of warfare. Hooker has underlined several sections of this work, the ideas in which doubtless served him in good stead during the Civil War. The NUC locates copies at The New York Public Library and Harvard. Not at the Military Academy. 5) COMPOSITION OF ARMIES [caption title]. 36pp. plus folding plate. This manual contains sections on marches, battles, and convoys. The final section notes that "in our country we have a peculiar foe to contend against" and covers the elements of Indian warfare. Interestingly, parallels are drawn between the experiences of the Romans in invading Gaul and Britain and the challenges faced by the U.S. army in battling Indians. The NUC locates only the Harvard copy. The Military Academy has what seems to be another issue, with thirty-two pages and a folding plate. 6) NOTES ON MINES [caption title]. 40pp. plus two folding plates. Directions on constructing mines for use in military attacks. This work is particularly interesting in light of the participation in the Civil War of many of the cadets who studied these manuals. The NUC locates only one copy, at Harvard, and there is a copy at the Military Academy. 7) OUTLINES OF THE COURSE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING [caption title]. 172pp. including in-text illustrations and two plates, plus one folding plate. [with:] SUPPLEMENTAL NOTES MASONRY. 15pp. [with:] NOTE 2. THEORY OF THE PRESSURE AND STABILITY OF ARCHES. 14pp. [with:] NOTE 3. THEORY OF THE PRESSURE OF VOUSSOIRS AND THE STABILITY OF CENTERS. 3pp. [with:] NOTE 4. THEORY OF PILE DRIVING. 4pp. [with:] NOTE 5. METHODS OF GAUGING WATER COURSES. 13pp. Hooker has written his name twice on the first page of the first manual, and his pencil notes are found throughout. The note on arches includes an entire blank leaf filled with Hooker's notes and mathematical computations. Civil engineering is one of the core plans of study at West Point, as is evident from the lengthy textbook and supplemental material covered here. The manuals are elaborately illustrated with in-text illustrations and cover roads, bridges, waterways, and more, with extensive sections on the materials used in their construction. 8) NOTE ON MOVEABLE MILITARY BRIDGES [caption title]. 15pp. including illustrations. One full-page plate shows the construction of a rope bridge, and several in- text illustrations demonstrate the engineering aspects of the construction of moveable bridges made of wood and other materials. 9) NOTE ON ARCHITECTURE [caption title]. 16pp. plus nine plates. On last page: "Lith. by Geo. Aspinwall 1834-35." A survey of classic architecture and architectural terms, with plates depicting Greek and Roman columns. This manual demonstrates the concern of West Point in educating its officers in non-military engineering, with most of the text devoted to the orders of classical architecture. A significant American architectural rarity, not in Hitchcock. The NUC locates one copy, at NNC. 10) GUNPOWDER [caption title]. [2],8pp. On last page: "Lith. by Geo. Aspinwall. 1835." These notes were printed "to supply a deficiency in the Chemical text book." They relate to the chemical principles of the composition and decomposition of gunpowder, and avoid the technical details of its manufacture, which were covered in the course on Pyrotechny. CATALOGUE OF THE LIBRARY OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY (Newburgh, 1876), passim. GENERALS IN BLUE, pp.233-35. ANB 11, pp.133-34. MICHAEL TWYMAN, EARLY LITHOGRAPHED BOOKS (London, 1990), especially pp.60-75, 318-27, "Military Manuals: the presses at Chatham and Metz." Hacker, "Engineering a New Order: Military Institutions, Technical Education, and the Rise of the Industrial State" in TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE 34(1), Jan. 1993. Ford, "Charles S. Storrow, Civil Engineer: A Case Study of European Training and Technological Transfer in the Antebellum Period" in TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE 34(2), April 1993.

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