[Maximilien de Bethune] Duke of Sully | introduction attributed to Walter Scott

[Association: Col. John Mosby & Gen. Eppa Hunton] Memoirs of the Duke of Sully, Prime Minister to Henry the Great (4 Volumes, Complete)

London: Henry G. Bohn, 1856. Hard Cover. Good binding. Item #10829

12mo. 8 (ads), xii, 509, [1], xii, 454; x, 432; x, 503, [1] pp., frontises, New edition. As issued, in publisher's embossed cloth with title on the spine. Each volume has 14 pages of adverts that function as endpapers, p. 2-8 at the front (p. 2 being the front pastedown) and p. 9-15 (p. 15 being the rear pastedown). A fairly presentable set with wear to the extremities including some fraying with closed tears to the spine ends of a couple volumes; hinges are loose but holding; contents are largely clean.

This set belonged to Confederate Colonel John Mosby and to Confederate General Eppa Hunton in turn and bears both names on the first blank page of each volume—the former name being crossed through in ink. In another book from this collection is a pencil note beneath Mosby's name and above Hunton's: "Bought at sale of Col. / Mosby - Warrenton, VA." The pencil note is later and thought to be by Eppa Hunton IV, General Hunton's grandson and from whose library this set was purchased. This inscription is not present in this title, but one might suppose that Hunton bought multiple books at the sale and surely Sully's Memoirs was one of them.

As a colonel Eppa Hunton took command of the 8th Virginia Infantry in 1861 and that July under Gen P. T. Beauregard, Hunton's brigade helped to halt a Union advance on Richmond. He distinguished himself at Ball's Bluff and then commanded Pickett's brigade after Pickett's wounding at Gaines' Mill. Hunton led Pickett's men through the balance of the Peninsula Campaign, acquitting himself with distinction. Hunton's brigade was with Pickett at Gettysburg after which he was promoted to brigadier general for his valor. During the last stages of the war, Hunton was involved in battle around Richmond including Cold Harbor and Five Forks. He was captured at Sayler's Creek on August 6, 1865 and was imprisoned for three months at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. But Hunton was more than a Confederate General; after the Civil War, Hunton would rise politically in Reconstruction era Virginia and serve in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Both Mosby and Hunton were from Warrenton, VA where they practiced law and both ultimately served in the United States Government, Mosby in the Department of Justice and Hunton in Congress. Interestingly, Hunton bought Mosby's home, Brentmoor from him in 1877 who had himself purchased it from Virginia Supreme Court justice, James Keith. While Hunton and Mosby traveled in a very tight political and social orbit, there was certainly an adversarial level as after the war most Virginia politicians were staunch Democrats, Mosby became a Republican and was even Grant's campaign manager in Virginia. These volumes point to a side of the owners rounding out what is often a history that is one-sided and neglects to consider their lives after the Civil War. Oxford American National Biography.

Price: $2,250.00