The Tragedy of the Crater, First Edition, Signed, with Dustjacket

Boston: Christopher Publishing House, 1938. First Edition . Cloth. Near Fine/Very Good Plus. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. Essentially Fine, in a Very Good plus jacket. See scans and description. Boston: Christopher Publishing House, 1938. First edition, with the very scarce dustjacket. Signed and warmly inscribed to Charles M. Kerwin by the author. 12mo, 110 pp. Maroon cloth with gilt imprinting on cover and spine. Near Fine / VG+. A virtually fine, nearly pristine book with just trace touching at spine ends. Bright, clean and tight. Rare jacket shows wear at spine ends, toning at the margins, is better than very good. See scans. Pleasants, son of the Henry Pleasants who designed the tunnel which was the focus of the Crater incident, borrowed his title from one of a series of articles in the Century Magazine [Sept. 1887] by Major William H. Powell, but also likely from common nomenclature for the event. In July of 1864, a federal unit was attempting to assist in the taking of Petersburg, Virgina, but was being forestalled by Pegram's Battery of the CSA, consisting of 278 men and four guns several hundred feet in front of the federal unit. US Army mining engineer Henry Pleasants proposed the construction of a tunnel under the battery, one which would involve more than 600 feet of tunneling, more than had been done in like circumstances ever before. On July 30, however, after some tribulations, the tunneling was complete. A massive amount of explosives was placed under the battery, and set off. The resulting explosion obliterated the battery, leaving, in the process, a crater 200 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 25 feet deep. Very scarce with the jacket, the signature and in near fine condition. Please see all scans. L20n