1776 Simes "The Military Guide for Young Officers"

[FreeEnterprise]

From my families library I saved these books from being "thrown out!!!" back when I was about 15. I have always loved books, especially old ones.

I have had them in a box for years. I showed them to a historian friend of mine and he almost fell off the chair.

There are three signatures in the front cover of book 2.

The first is John Carson. He was a Col. in the Revolutionary war and his home is a historic site in NC. I got a copy of his will and verified his signature.

The second signature is James Henderson. I am assuming he is the James Henderson who was also a Col. and later fought under Jackson in the Creek campaign. Henderson County TN was named after him. But, I have not found anything with his signature to verify... I did find out that he and John Carson were friends, and that is why I would make the link between them.

I can not read the third signature on the cover of the book.

Inside the book is the signature of Samuel Henderson with the date, linking both books together.

These are original with all pages intact and I have been told they are in "museum" quality.

The John Carson house in interested in purchasing them, and I am considering it. But, I have gotten appraisals all over the place in price.



links to pics
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/glennw...e2.jpg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/glennw...38.jpg&.src=ph

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/glennw...92.jpg&.src=ph

These were printed in the USA in 1776. I only know of 10 sets in existance today, and most of them are in museums.

Obviously this set is rare with 2 famous Col. signatures. Most are unsigned, with the exception of the unbound set that was Washingtons...

The books sold for $3.00 a set in 1776, If I remember right only 200 sets were published.
Many believe that one of the reasons we won the war was because of these books, as they gave detailed instructions on every aspect of warfare from the British perspective.

One of the very interesting parts of these books were the info about how they hired spies and what the spies were to do.

After you read this section it makes Washingtons manipulation of British troops make sense. He would give bad info to the spies and they would move their troops to the wrong place.

Any info would be helpful.

[Dugday]

Good for you saving those from being thrown out. They might be worth a small fortune. You might want to think about donating them to the museum with the Col. Name, but that question is for you to answer. Good luck with your desision.