1860 CIVIL WAR BIBLE. American Bible Society. Mustered in Jackson County, Michigan. Rare Inscription.

A charming, very early presentation soldier's Bible from the beginning of the Civil War. The soldiers' uniforms were fitted with a pocket designed to hold this precise Bible. This one, issued in 1860, was presented by the "Ladies of Coldwater, Mich" to J[udson] W. Parker, presumably on his being mustered out.

Groups of women who gathered together necessaries, cobbled together uniforms, and promised to pray for and correspond with soldiers popped up all over the country. Presumably, the "Ladies of Coldwater" was one such group. Judson was mustered in Jackson County, Michigan as a part of the First Light Artillery, Michigan Volunteers. The Michigan regiment was brutalized during fighting in Mississippi in mid-1862. Parker seems to have survived relatively unscathed and was almost simultaneously mustered out and re-enlisted in 1863. 

The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Translated out of the Original Greek; and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised. New York. American Bible Society. 1860. 306pp.

A fair copy only, bound in cloth, shaken, with moderate foxing and handled pages.