A really wonderful little item owned by John M. Stark of the 62nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers in November of 1862. Mustered in July of 1861, he was seriously injured at the Battle at Gaines Mill in June of 1862 and hospitalized for a full 6 months.
This was his copy of The American Chesterfield. I like to think he was reading the section on wood carving and doing some whittling during those months in the hospital.
Anonymous. The American Chesterfield, or Way to Wealth, Honour, and Distinction; Being Selections from the Letters of Lord Chesterfield to his Son; and Extracts from other Eminent Authors, on the Subject of Politeness: With Alterations and Additions, Suited to the Youth of the United States. By a Member of the Philadelphia Barr. Philadelphia. J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1860. 286pp.
A fair copy only, bound in cloth, lightly shaken, with stained and handled pages and moderately foxed.
