GENERAL SHERMAN'S SIGNED CHILDHOOD OR CADET ALGEBRA BOOK.

Jeremiah Day. An Introduction to Algebra. New Haven, [Connecticut]: Hezekiah Howe, 1829. 8vo. Original calf. Fifth edition. MULTI-SIGNED BY SHERMAN. With "W.T. Sherman" bookplate to interior front boardand "P. Tecumseh Sherman" bookplate to front free endpaper.

A rare and unique artifact from General Sherman’s early education. The book is signed extensively by William Tecumseh Sherman. On its interior front board, it is inscribed several times in ink "T. Sherman,” and with his initials, “T.S.” The interior front board is signed an additional 4 times in pencil. On the same page are several lines of algebraic equations the young student was working out. On the facing front free endpaper, Sherman signed twice more with the title "Plebe" and his hometown of Lancaster, Ohio.

Although his many ownership inscriptions are undated, they are possibly near contemporaneous with the book’s publication date of 1829, a year that General Sherman would later describe as "a sad one to our family” due to the death of his father. In his memoirs, the General notes he was informed of his father's illness while at school: "One day Jane Sturgeon came to the school, called us out, and when we reached home all was lamentation." After his father’s death, General Sherman wrote: ”I continued at the Academy in Lancaster, which was the best in the place; indeed, as good a school as any in Ohio. We studied all the common branches of knowledge, including Latin, Greek, and French. At first the school was kept by Mr. Parsons; he was succeeded by Mr. Brown, and he by two brothers, Samuel and Mark How. These were all excellent teaches, and we made good progress, first at the old academy and afterward at a new school-house, built by Samuel How, in the orchard of Hugh Boyle, Esq." (Personal Memoirs of Gen. W.T. Sherman. pp. 13-14).

It is quite likely this book was used by General Sherman at Lancaster’s academy. The inclusion of the title “Plebe” in several of his inscriptions, the term for first-year US Military Academy cadets, suggests Sherman used the book during his preparation for or after his admission to West Point. Perhaps he wrote “Plebe Sherman” with aspiration, and was trying the title on for size. Little would the young man know that it would mark the beginning of one of the most storied careers in American military history.

Truly a remarkable artifact from Sherman's early life and education in Lancaster, Ohio. We have never seen such early Sherman material available for public acquisition.

Condition: Scuffing to leather, brown spotting throughout.

PROVENANCE:

The Sherman-Fitch Library

Primarily assembled by General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891), the collection of books was inherited and curated by his son, Philemon Tecumseh Sherman (1867-1941). Before his death, Philemon transferred the library to his niece, Eleanor Sherman Fitch (1876-1959). Eleanor was the granddaughter of General Sherman through his eldest daughter, Maria "Minnie" Ewing Sherman Fitch (1851-1913). Until now, the Sherman-Fitch library was held at the family estate in Washington County, Pennsylvania.

The library includes a range of diverse material owned by General Sherman that principally relates to the Civil War, American history, and the Sherman family. Many works in the Sherman-Fitch library are historically significant, including General Sherman's annotated copy of Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs, the Sherman family bible, and Barnard's "Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign."

Most examples in the collection are affixed with bookplates that bear both General Sherman's and Philemon's names. In some cases, where General Sherman's ownership was clear, his bookplate was not always affixed. However, books with just Philemon's bookplate were generally acquired after his father's death in 1891. General Sherman’s bookplates were likely added by Philemon after his father’s death. Philemon’s bookplates were placed by Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (1908-1969) after he inherited the library in 1942.

[Civil War, Union, Confederate, Generals, Books, Manuscripts, Autographs, Signatures, Ephemera, William Tecumseh Sherman, William T. Sherman, W.T. Sherman, General Sherman]