What You Might Find Inside a Used Book

 

This is the inscription on the frontpiece of my personal copy of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg: Report of the Pennsylvania Commission (Harrisburg: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, c1913). Or what I simply call the "Pennsylvania Report." I bought the book in Gettysburg back in 2001 from a small book store specializing in battle ephemera. I wish I could remember the name of the store...or where exactly it is (or was) located. Anyway...it's pretty cool when you can trace a book's history. I did a little digging and found a great image of Francis H. Hoy - who, as stated, served as the Senior Vice Commander of the Department of Pennsylvania, GAR in 1915. In 1919, as I discovered, he served as the department's Chief of Staff.

But enough about Hoy. The book is full of photographs from the 1913 Blue-Gray reunion at Gettysburg, marking the 50th anniversary of the battle. A significant number of the images clearly depict a reconciliatory spirit...and these images have dominated much of the scholarly analysis of the reconciliation movement. I take issue with some of these ideas and underscore a number of the most "forgive and forget" images in the August issue of The Americanist Independent. It would it worth it to you to check it out.

With compliments,

Keith