The Boy Spy

Chicago: M.A. Donohue & Co, n.y.. Hardcover. 8vo. Green cloth with black lettering and black, ivory and brown pictorial stamping. vii, 557pp, (3pp ads). Frontispiece, full-page illustrations. Very good. Mild binding edgewear; inner hinges a bit rough but expertly, archivally strengthened, thus tight. A tight and decent reprint edition of these Civil War tall tales, first published in 1889. Undated, but circa 1890. Subtitle suggests the exaggerated nature: "A Substantially True Record of Secret Service During the War of the Rebellion. A Correct Account of Events Witnessed by a Soldier Attached to Headquarters. The Only Practical History of War Telegraphers in the Field -- A Full Account of the Mysteries of Signalling by Flags, Torches, and Rockets -- Thrilling Scenes of Battles, Captures and Escapes." Interestingly, front pastedown bears a 4" X 3" name tag for Arnold F. Gates (1914-93, noted Lincoln and Civil War scholar), officer of the New York Civil War Round Table -- perhaps from a conference or symposium of some sort that he attended. Just the kind of book that might have fueled the young Civil War buff's enthusiasm as a young man! James I. Robertson Jr. critiques as "A thoroughly unreliable account of one thrilling escapade after another, written by a soldier with an unlimited imagination; providentially, the book was designed for young readers." NEVINS I, 117.