in the By Marc Ramsey and Roger Semplak A while back, as we were packing up far too many unsold books from a Civil War show, in order
Richmond, my good friend Rusty came by and asked, “Why don’t you just bring the books that you’re going to sell?” Well, we chuckled a bit, finished packing up, and then left. But interestin ly, those words have stuck with me; why don’t we just bring the books that are going to sell, instead of bringing mostly just the books that we think should sell. In other words, in spite of our own predilections, we should be more aware of what is Hot in the Civil War book market these days, and what is Not. Over the years, when buying books for our inventory, we have mostly let our hearts be our guid Being devoted to Civil War and military literature, this was a s tem that worked fairly well; if w thought a book had merit, then it probably was a good choice for
tory, internet, and mobile book selections. Alas, there is no denying that things have changed,
America’s Monthly Ne Hot, and What’s Not, of Civil War Books Today! that for a number of reasons the market is quite different now th in years past. So, in recent tim this reality has led to a number interesting discussions between ourselves, other book dealers, a thors, publishers, reviewers, an of course, our many good customers. We now fully understand that we must be more objective than sentimental when buying books for resale, and that we must keep an ever vigilant eye o market trends and what really is hot, and what is really not so h in the market at this time. So what is our guide? First and foremost we must consider categories, and the hot categori at this time seem to be Battles and Leaders, Memoir Biographies, and Unit Histories. Battles and Leaders – Campaign and battle studies will al ways have great appeal and be in great demand. When choosing books for a particular Civil War show or conference, it is a good idea for us to consider the
region where the venue is located, and bring books dealing with actions fought in that area. Of course there are exceptions, the epic battles such as Antietam, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chickamauga/Chattanooga, and a few others always seem to have universal appeal and books on those subjects and can be taken to any show. In addition, there are always good, new books entering the market place that peo ple want to add to their librari like Eric Wittenberg and Scott Mingus’s 2016 offering titled Th Second Battle of Winchester; The Confederate Victory that Opened the Doors to Gettysburg. Here is a detailed, well written, dee ly researched, and strongly documented account of what many consider a secondary tier battle
most often only briefly covered in books dealing with the Gettysburg Campaign, but, in this book, it has finally been given the coverage that it deserves. O major battle which continues to be of great interest is Antietam with the three volume set edit-
ed by Thomas Clemens selling well, the most recent part being
47 – Advertiser Index 20 – Ask The Appraiser 6 – Black Powder, White Smoke 22 – Book Reviews
The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Volume III: The Battle of Shepherdstown and the End of the Campaign, publishing the writings of Erza Carman. In 2012, Scott Hartwig published a very popular first of a planne two volume work titled To Antietam Creek; The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, which, if the second volume fulfills th promise and expectations associated after reading the initial o ing, will definitely be a book t add to one’s collection. In the arena of Leaders, books abound, but we do need to exercise a bit of caution. When
going to a show in either Georgi or the Carolinas, bringing a lar selection of books on William T. Sherman, for instance, may cause problems. Memories are long, and his memory is far from cherished. A large stock of Sherman books would probably be non-productive or unprofitable and could potentially drive off future customers regardless of how well the book is written and researched. On th
other hand at Midwestern shows from the areas where the Norther Inside this issue: 46 – Classifieds 34 – Critic’s Corner 41 – Events Section 10 – Inspection, ARMS! 2 – Letters to the Editor
Armies of the Tennessee, Ohio, and the Cumberland drew troops, books on General Sherman would probably have no problem selling. The second category we consider is Memoirs. Here it generally breaks down into two dif ferent groups, those written by veterans that were published in the period from about 1870 through 1910 and those edited and published later. Some
samples which are considered classics are Military Memoirs o a Confederate; a Critical Narrative by E.P. Alexander originally published in 1907 and the 1989 edition by Gary W. Gallagher, Fighting for the Confeder acy; The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander. Here is an example where the original was published for reading public whereas the second publication is long on mate rial initially intended for the reading of his family. We are i debted to Dr. Gallagher for sav and bringing to light much of t
2 – Roundtable News 9 – The Source 8 – Through The Lens 7 – The Unfinished Fight 5 – Small Talk-Trivia