A fair example of a pocket Bible issued by the American Bible Society between 1861 and 1864 specifically for distribution among the soldiers, both Union and Confederate [where possible].
This particular example has a female inscription from New York. It is unclear whether it was retrieved from a soldier [perhaps one fallen], given to her after the war by a relative, or whether she somehow obtained it as the first owner. This, in our experience was rare. These were produced specifically for the battlefield and meant to be distributed by the Christian Commission. They were even sized to fit perfectly into the issue uniform.
Perhaps our recipient and her location, which is faint, but probably recoverable, will yield some interesting results for the diligent researcher.
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. 1863. Nonpareil 32mo.
Fair only, heavily worn, cloth nearly completely separated from block, split on text block, but complete. Pastedown lifted.