Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1945. Hardcover. Complete 3-volume set. Small 4to. Black cloth with gilt lettering, pictorial dust jackets. lvi, 773pp; xlv, 760pp; xlvi, 862pp. Illustrations, numerous maps (one large foldout). Near fine/good plus. Jackets all edgeworn, with some tiny edge chips, but complete and overall fairly attractive. A tight and handsome early (not first) printing of Freeman's opus (first published 1942-44), described by Warren W. Hassler Jr. as "The ablest descriptive and evaluative study of the leading generals... massively documented, movingly written, highly authoritative, and faintly smug." Choice autograph addition: Tipped to front flyleaf of first volume is an intriguing Typed Note Signed from Freeman, 1p, 8½" X 11", Richmond, VA, 15 May 1953. Addressed to Carl Haverlin (1899-1985), a noted Lincoln/Civil War scholar and radio broadcast pioneer, president of music licensing innovator BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.). Near fine. Faint original folds. On imprinted letterhead, Freeman writes this officer of the New York Civil War Round Table: "What a fine leader you are! The idea is admirable, the execution as you propose it is fine. Nothing is to be added to it or subtracted from it. Go with it with the thanks and blessings of...." Signed with his usual handsome if miniscule signature in black ink. Sure makes one wonder to what endeavor of Haverlin's Freeman refers! NEVINS I, 30.