Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant

New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1885-1886 Two volumes. First edition, first printings. Publisher's dark green cloth, with Congressional Medallion of 1863 stamped in gilt to the front boards, medallion verso stamped in gilt to the rear boards, lettered in gilt, band of military stars in gilt to the spines, and floral endpapers. Very good set, with some scratching and soiling to cloth, lightly toned spines with light dimming to gilt, bright gilt on boards, mid-20th century inscriptions to front free endpapers, lightly bumped corners to Vol. 1, light toning to page edges, light thumbsoiling to a few pages in Vol. 1, fold-out facsimile document on p. 312 in Vol. 1 detached but present, some spotting to Vol. 2 frontispiece portrait, and a bit of separation to bottom of front hinge in Vol. 1. Overall, a sturdy and unrestored set. From B&B Desc: Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant is an autobiographical memoir by Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States, written during the last year of his life and completed only weeks before his death. While small portions cover Grant's childhood, education at West Point, his marriage to Julia Dent, and interwar peacetime years, the majority of Personal Memoirs is devoted to the two wars that shaped Grant's life: the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. Hailed as one of the best presidential autobiographies, Personal Memoirs is lauded not only for its gripping and insightful descriptions of the 19the century American wars but also for Grant's powerful writing style. With Grant on his deathbed, contemporary author and friend of the president Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) offered to publish the book, claiming he could offer Grant and his wife a higher percentage of royalties than Century. Because of the memoir's high-quality writing and his friendship with Twain, many scholars argue that Grant was not the sole author of his Personal Memoirs, although this opinion has not been proven.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good.