JOSHUA L. CHAMBERLAIN’S SIGNED BOOK WITH PRESSED LEAVES HE KEPT BETWEEN ITS PAGES

Signed by Joshua L. Chamberlain. Annual Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Maine for the Year Ending December 31, 1866. Augusta, Maine: Stevens & Sayward, Printers to the State, 1867. 8vo. Original boards and binding. With leaves and leaf impressions laid between pp. 110–111, 240–241, 342–343, 432–433, 498–499, 526–527, 562–563, and 580–581.

With framed leaves found in the book. Eight leaves framed to 10 x 12 in., accompanied by a handwritten card reading: “Leaves found pressed in the book, Adjutant General’s Report, 1866, belonging to General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, U.S.A. / The general was a lover of trees and it is believed he collected said leaves and placed them in between pages of the book…”

A captivating pairing of items revealing a more personal side of one of the Civil War’s most celebrated figures. A group of pressed leaves, possibly from beech or ash trees, is attractively framed and was discovered tucked within the pages of a book owned and signed by Joshua Chamberlain. Additional leaf impressions remain preserved throughout the volume, together suggesting both Chamberlain’s evident affection for the natural world and the rich variety of Maine’s native trees.

Joshua Chamberlain (1828–1914) was a Maine college professor who volunteered for military service and rose to the rank of brevet major general. He is best known as the recipient of the Medal of Honor for his heroic defense of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, he served four terms as governor of Maine (1867–1871) and later as president of Bowdoin College (1871–1883).

[Civil War, Union, Confederate]  [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Art, Folk Art, Military Art, Etching, Engraving, Lithographs, Prints, Ephemera] 

Book is missing some pages at the very end.