An extraordinary extra-illustrated copy of Harvard Memorial Biographies owned by Josephine Shaw Lowell (sister of Robert Gould Shaw), featuring the addition of 64 albumen photographs of the subjects, notably Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry. Items include: 

1. Thomas W. Higginson, editor. Harvard Memorial Biographies. Cambridge: Sever and Francis, 1866. 2 volumes, 8vo. Extra illustrated with 64 albumen photographs (complete list available below) and 2 ALSs tipped in (see Nos. 2 & 5). Original green cloth gilt. First Edition. Sabin 30743.

2. Autograph letter signed by Thomas Carlyle to Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843-1905). Chelsea, 10 March 1870. 3 pages, 3 7/8 x 4 3/4 in. Tipped in to front free end paper of Volume I.  

3. Albumen CDV portrait of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). [London, England]: Elliott & Fry. Photographer’s imprints to mount recto and verso. Contemporary pencil identification to verso. 

4. Clipped albumen portrait of Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863). 2 ¼ x 1 ⅝ in. This is an additional loose photograph in addition to those included tipped into the work. 

5. Autograph letter signed by Stephen George Perkins (1835-1862), KIA Cedar Mountain, to Charles Russell Lowell?. Cambridge, [Massachusetts], 14 May [1861]. 3 pages. Tipped in between pp. 378 & 379 in Volume I
Supplementary Biographies, pp. [485]-492 tipped in between pages 94 & 95 in Vol. I. Includes the biographies of "Ebenezer Pierce Hinds” and “Charles Edward Hickling.”

6. 1984 correspondence related to the publication of the Thomas Carlyle letter in The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle.

7. 1994 documents related to an exhibition that included the volumes at the Chicago Public Library. 

Provenance: Argosy Book Store, New York (1984 receipt); Ralph C. Newman, Chicago; Marshall Krolick. 

An extraordinary extra-illustrated association copy of Harvard Memorial Biographies owned by Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843-1905).

The work, published in the immediate post-war era, published the life and military histories of all the Harvard men who served and died during the Civil War. The copy is enhanced immensely by the inclusion of 64 tipped in portraits that correspond to the majority of entries. The volumes reflect Lowell's close connection to the Harvard community, as most of the subjects were not public figures. The text also includes occasional corrections.

Many of the subjects are captured in uniform and all subjects perished in the war, many dying in major battles including Gettysburg and Antietam. In addition to the portraits of Robert Gould Shaw and Charles Russell Lowell, other notable portraits include poet James Russell Lowell, uncle to Charles, who wrote an ode to the fallen; Brvt. Major General James Samuel Wadsworth, KIA the Wilderness; Col. Fletcher Webster, son of Daniel Webster, DOW 2nd Bull Run; two grandsons of Paul Revere, Asst. Surgeon Edward H.R. Revere, DOW Siege of Vicksburg and Edward H.R. Revere, KIA Antietam; Brig. General Strong Vincent, DOW Gettysburg; and Capt. Cabot Jackson Russell, 44th Massachusetts Infantry and 54th Massachusetts Infantry, killed in action alongside Robert Gould Shaw at Fort Wagner.

Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843-1905) was born into a wealthy New England family. Both her brother, Col. Robert Gould Shaw of the 54th Massachusetts, and her husband, Brig. General Charles Russell Lowell, are listed in this work, both perishing in the service of the Union. Included is a remarkable letter penned to Josephine by Thomas Carlyle after she sent a copy of the work to him. 

Robert Gould Shaw most notably served as Colonel of the famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry, an all-Black regiment. He led the regiment at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner on 18 July 1863, where he was shot and killed while leading his men to the parapet of the Rebel-held fort. Although a Confederate victory, Shaw’s heroic leadership and valor of the well-drilled Black Union soldiers was widely praised. Their actions led directly to encouraging more enlistment of Black soldiers.

Shaw's biography on pages 183-211 in Volume II was clearly given extra attention. In addition to a large portrait of Shaw, the chapter includes photographs of his widow Annie Haggerty Shaw, Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew, and General George Crockett Strong. It also shows signs of frequent reference with loose and chipped pages. 

Charles Russell Lowell (1835-1864) was the valedictorian of Harvard’s Class of 1854 and entered business. At the start of the war, he enlisted as a Captain and was elevated to Colonel of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry in 1863. In October, Josephine and Charles married, and she followed him to the front, working as a nurse and with the U.S. Sanitation Commission. He was killed in action a year later at the Battle of Cedar Creek. 

After the war, Josephine returned to Staten Island and became a progressive social reformer and businesswoman. While visiting England in 1870, she met the influential essayist Thomas Carlyle, whose “sympathies…were with the South in the Civil War, and Mrs. Lowell ... had several interesting conversations with him about the great Rebellion, though he did not fully appreciate either the quality or the patriotic motives of the young men who had fought in the armies of the North. Wishing to influence his opinion on the subject so sacred to her, Mrs. Lowell afterwards sent him a set of the Harvard Memorial Biographies, continuing, among others, sketches of the lives her husband and her brother, northern men who had laid down their lives for their country.” (William R. Stewart. The Philanthropic Work of Josephine Shaw Lowell, 1991, p. 50). 

In response to their conversations and her gift, he sent her a heartfelt letter, which is tipped in to the front free endpaper of volume I. In part: "I recd your gentle, kind and beautiful message; and, in obedience to so touching a command, soft to me as sunlight, or moonlight, but imperative as few [could] be, I have read those Lives you marked for me; with several of the others, and intend to read the whole before I finish. It [would] need a heart much harder than mine not to recognize the high and noble spirit that dwelt in those young men, their heroic readiness, complete devotedness, their patience, diligence, shining valor + virtue in the cause they saw to be the highest; - while alas, any difference I may feel on that latter point only depends to me the sorrowful and noble tragedy each of their brief Lives is. You may believe me, Madam, I [would] strew flowers on their graves along with you, and piously bid them, rest in Hope! It is not doubtful to me that they also have added their [might] to what is the eternal Case of God and man; or that, in circuitous but sure ways, all men, Black & White, will infallibly get their profits of the same.” The letter is published in both Stewart’s The Philanthropic Work of Josephine Shaw Lowell and The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle (Vol. 46). 

A second letter is also included, tipped into volume I between pages 378 and 379. Written by Stephen George Perkins (1835-1862) from Harvard addressed to “Charley,” almost certainly Charles Russell Lowell. Written very early in the war, Perkins contemplates joining the Army and speculates on officer opportunities: “Report says that you have applied for a commission in the ordnance department of the U.S. army. In thinking, as everyone does in these times of military service, it has struck me that a lieutenant or captain in the infantry must have duties very little above those of a common soldier. I want to know what the duties of an Artillery officer are, as far as you know them, whether they require much preparation beforehand, whether there is any demand for men in that branch of the service and in short, I should like to have you give me your ideas on the subject, if you have leisure an inclination to do so at anytime. I should like to stay here through this term, but if I go a good opportunity to go off, I shouldn't let it slip.” Perkins would enlist in July as a 2nd Lieutenant in Company H of the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry. A year later, he was killed in action at Cedar Mountain, Virginia.  

A truly remarkable relic of the Civil War.

Complete listing of tipped in photographs: 
1. Poet James Russell Lowell (1819-1891, I, xix) commemoration ode.
2. Brvt. Major General James Samuel Wadsworth (1807-1864, I, 20) in uniform, KIA The Wilderness.
3. Col. Fletcher Webster (1813-1862, I, 30) in uniform, 12th Massachusetts Infantry, DOW 2nd Bull Run, son of Daniel Webster.
4. Lt. Col. William Logan Rodman (1822-1863, I, 78), 38th Massachusetts Infantry, Quaker, highest ranking soldier from New Bedford, KIA Port Hudson, Louisiana.
5. Col. Peter Augustus Porter (1827-1864, I, 106), 8th New York Heavy Artillery, KIA Cold Harbor.
6. 1st Lt. Ezra Ripley (1826-1863, I, 111 & 115), in uniform, 29th Massachusetts Infantry, DOW Siege of Vicksburg.
7. Asst. Surgeon Edward H.R. Revere (1827-1862, I, p. 135), in uniform, 20th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Antietam, grandson of Paul Revere.
8. Capt. Lucius Manlius Sargent (1826-1864, I, 146), in uniform, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry and 1st Mass. Cavalry, KIA near Bellfield, Virginia.
9. Col. Everett Peabody (1799-1862, I, 178), 25th Missouri Infantry, KIA Shiloh.
10. Major William Dwight Sedgwick (1831-1862, I, 189), in uniform, 1st Lt. 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, Major & AAGUS, DOW Antietam.
11. Capt. William Sturgis Hooper (1833-1863, I, 218), General Banks's staff, DOD.
12. Col. Paul Joseph Revere (1832-1863, I, 237), in uniform, 20th Massachusetts Infantry, DOW Gettysburg, grandon of Paul Revere.
13. Major Sidney Willard (1831-1862, I, 270), in uniform, 35th Massachusetts Infantry, DOW Fredericksburg.
14. Lt. Col. Wilder Dwight (1833-1862, I, 293), in uniform, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, DOW Antietam.
15. Capt. Richard Chapman Goodwin (1833-1862, I, 295), in dress uniform (cropped small), 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Cedar Mountain.
16. Brig. General Charles Russell Lowell (1835-1864, I, 327), Capt. 6th US Cavalry and 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, DOW Cedar Creek.
17. Lt. Col. James Savage (1832 - 1862, I, 350), 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, DOW Cedar Mountain.
18. Sgt. Charles Books Brown (1835-1864, I, 370), in uniform, 3rd Massachusetts Infantry and 19th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Spotsylvania Court-House.
19. 1st Lt. Stephen George Perkins (1835-1862, I, 381), 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Cedar Mountain. 
20. Capt. Howard Dwight (1837-1863, I, 394), 24th Massachusetts Infantry and 4th Missouri Cavalry, KIA by guerillas at Bayou Courtableau, Louisiana. 
21. 1st Lt. James Amory Perkins (1836-1863, I, 403), 24th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Morris Island, SC.
22. Sgt. George Whittemore, Jr. (1837-1862, I, 414), 1st Co. Massachusetts Sharpshooters, KIA Antietam.
23. 1st Lt.  James Jackson Lowell (1837-1862, I, 436), 20th Massachusetts Infantry, DOW Glendale.
24. 2nd Lt. Edward Bromfield Mason (1837-2863, I, 442), 14th Massachusetts Vols (1st Mass. Heavy Artillery) and 2nd Mass. Cavalry, died of injuries from camp accident.
25. Major Henry Lyman Patten (1836-1864, I, 464), in uniform, 20th Massachusetts Infantry, DOW Deep Bottom, VA.
26. 1st Lt. Thomas Jefferson Spurr (1838-1862, I, 477), 15th Massachusetts Infantry, DOW Antietam. 
27. 1st Lt. Henry May Bond (1836-1864, II, 20), in uniform, 45th Massachusetts Infantry and 20th Massachusetts Infantry, DOW the WIlderness.
28. Major Henry Jackson How (1836-1862, II, 39), with clipped signature, 19th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Glendale, VA.
29. 1st Lt. Mason Archelaus Rea (1837-1864, II, 43), in uniform, 24th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Drury's Bluff.
30. Captain Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff (1838-1862, II, tipped in 54/55), with clipped signature, 12th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Cedar Mountain.
31. 1st Lt. Ezra Martin Tebbets (1838-1864, II, 65) with clipped signature, 5th Iowa Cavalry, DOD as POW at Millen, GA.
32. Brig. General Strong Vincent (1837-1863, II, 81), w/ clipped signature, Wayne Guards (Erie, PA) and 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry, DOW Gettysburg.
33. Capt. Edward Gardner Abbott (1840-1862, II, 96), in uniform, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Cedar Mountian.
34. Major Henry Livermore Abbott (1842-1864, II, 111), in uniform, 20th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA the Wilderness.
35. Capt. Thomas Bayley Fox (1839-1863, II, 130), in uniform, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, DOW Gettysburg.
36. 1st Lt.  Henry Ware Hall (1839-1864, II, 140), 51st Illinois Infantry, KIA Kenesaw Mountain.
37. Brvt. Major Charles James Mills (1841-1865. II, 150), in uniform, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry and 56th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Hatcher's Run.
38. Lt. Col. Charles Redington Mudge (1839-1863, II, 162), in uniform, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Gettysburg.
39-43. Col. Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863, II, 211), 54th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Fort Wagner; also includes portraits of his widow Annie Haggerty Shaw (1835-1907, II, 183); a man in uniform (II, 200), Mass. Governor John A. Andrew (1818-1867, II, 201), and General George Crockett Strong (1832-1863, II, 207).
44. 2nd Lt. Leonard Case Alden (1839-1863, II, 228), in uniform, 55th Massachusetts Infantry, DOD Hilton Head.
45. 2nd Lt. Arthur Dehon (1841-1862, II, 239), 12th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Fredericksburg.
46. Capt. Henry Jonas Doolittle (1839-1862, II, 242), DOD at Racine, Wisc.
47. Capt. William Yates Gholson (1842-1862, II, 258), 106th Ohio Infantry, KIA Hartsville, TN.
48. 2nd Lt. Thomas Joseph Leavitt (1840-1863, II, 260), 6th Iowa Cavalry, DOW White Stone HIlls, Dakota Territory.
49. Capt. Thomas Rodman Robeson (1840-1863, II, 274), 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Gettysburg.
50. Acting Asst. Paymaster Edward Carson Bowman (1841-1864, II, 279), US Navy, DOD New Orleans.
51. Capt. James Ingersoll Grafton (1841-1865, II, 288), in uniform, 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Averysborough, NC.
52. 1st Lt. Samuel Cushman Haven (1843-1863, II, 298), 162 New York Infantry, DOD Baton Rouge.
53. 1st Lt. Henry Ropes (1839-1862, II, 327), 20th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Gettysburg.
54. Capt. Goodwin Atkins Stone (1841-1864, II, 349), 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, DOW Aldie, VA.
55. Capt. William James Temple (1842-1863, II, 364), 17th US Infantry, KIA Chancellorsville.
56. Capt. Augustus Barker (1842-1863, II, 380), in uniform, 5th New York Cavalry, DOW from guerillas near Kelly's Ford, VA.
57. Capt. Winthrop Perkins Boynton (1841-1864, II, 390) - 55th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Honey Hill, SC.
58. Prvt. Henry French Brown (1840-1863, II, 400), 2nd New Hampshire Infantry, DOD at Boston.
59. 1st Lt. Edward Stanley Abbot (d. 1863, II, 435), 17th US Infantry, DOW Gettysburg.
60. Col. David B. Birney (1826-1864, II, 442), DOD.
61. Major Fitzhugh Birney (d. 1864, II, 446), 23rd Pennsylvania Infantry, DOD Washington DC.
62. 1st Lt. Samuel Storrow (1843-1865, II, 474), in uniform, 44th Massachusetts Infantry and 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Black Creek, SC.
63. 2nd Lt. Sumner Paine (1845-1863, II, 480), 20th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA at Gettysburg.
64. Capt. Cabot Jackson Russel (1844-1863, II, 491), in uniform, 44th Massachusetts Infantry and 54th Massachusetts Infantry, KIA Fort Wagner.

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