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Bledsoe, Albert Taylor (1809-1877) Is Davis a traitor, or, Was secession a constitutional right previous to the war of 1861?

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC00432 Author/Creator: Bledsoe, Albert Taylor (1809-1877) Place Written: Baltimore, Maryland Type: Book signed Date: 1866 Pagination: vi, 263 p. ; 20 x 13 cm Order a Copy

Written by Albert Taylor Bledsoe, a former Northerner and friend of Davis. First edition published by Innes & Co. Signed twice by Davis (inside of front cover and on page 61); initialed by his wife Varina Davis. Part of his library. "Reserved copy - not to be loaned. Jefferson Davis." Bound in original cloth boards and contains slips of paper which Varina Davis identifies as her husband's original bookmarks. On a blank page at the back of the volume, someone has made a list of all the pages (136 total) on which there are small pencil checkmarks, corrections, or notations along the outside edge of the text. See in particular, the underlined passage regarding Lincoln on page 252.

[excerpt]
Reserved copy - not to be loaned.
Jefferson Davis
The above is Mr Davis own hand The markers in the book are his just as he left them and he considered it one of the best books justifying our course in seceding of all the condensed arguments upon the right of secession The book is now very scarce and I hope it will be kept very carefully V.H.D.
[2]
For Mr Davis
with the love of
[Anna Bleasoe]

Bledsoe, Albert Taylor, 1809-1877
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
Davis, Varina, 1826-1906

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