TRANSACTIONS OF THE ALABAMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1897-1904 (Volumes II-V, All Published) by Alabama Historical Society. Owen, Thomas McAdory (editor) - 1906

Tuscaloosa, AL: Alabama Historical Society, 1906. Hard Cover. Very Good binding. Octavos. 204; 251; 639; 282 pp., frontis. In publisher's cloth. Generally, minor shelfwear, but all volumes with a minor silverfishing to the binding, moderate to heavy to Volume IV; contents are clean and bindings are solid.

The society was organized in 1850. It's constitution clearly outlines its goals: "The object of the society is to discover, procure, preserve, and diffuse whatever may relate to the natural, civil, literary, and ecclesiastical history of the State of Alabama, and of the States in connection with her." And in this it was fairly successful until all activities were suspended during the Civil War. The society continued, punctuated by moments of enthusiasm and productivity into the first decade of the 20th century when it ceased in 1905.

These volumes of Transactions are among the final endeavors of the Society and contain an abundance of material on a myriad of aspects of Alabama history. While a first volume projected to range from 1850-1897, it was never published. Nevertheless, what was published in these 1,300+ pages constitutes a wealth of material including papers and addresses related colonial and territorial history, Native American history of the region, the Civil War, as well as the political, commercial, religious, and educational history of Alabama. A remarkable publication and remarkably scarce in commerce. Owen 1243-48; Goodspeed 544-001.