The evening times., 1898-08-22
A COSTLY BOOK.
The G"vernment History. of she
zsae. Great, Civil War. -ro :


=sae. Great, Civil War;.
The present warswith Spain has stirred
up many an otherwise Indifferent boy and
girl 20 read the histories of our naval
conflicts and military campaigns on land
and at all the libraries the demand for
such books is unique In the history OF
the institutions.L There is one history.
however. which win not be accessible to
the average reader but in the present cri-
SIS some facts about this most expensive
book in the world may be of general in
terest.
The book to which j refer Is the official
history of the Civil War. Before II is
finally completed II will have cost our
Government about $3.000.OGO. Probably no
other book in the world ever cost one
tenth of this enormous sum. Rare edi-
tons of Dickens. Thackeray or Dante
cannot touch this history in the matter Of
cost II is true that the history is COM
posed of 112 volumes of massive propor-
tions but that does not alter the fact
that 1t Is one continuous story-practical-
ly one book
This latest reminder to us of the enor-
nous expense of war is probably justi-
fled by circumstances, for tts publication
brings out clearly all the details of the
war according to the latest reports from
ltdulHS On UOtn SIUeS, ana
1t will tend to settle definitely disputed
points of that great historical drama
The official history will be complete and
authoritative. and all future writers must
appeal to II as a final resort. The atlas
which accompanies the book contains III
plates. illustrating the important facts,
campaigns, and battlefields. These pic
lures are nearly all taken from photo
graphs. and are not the ideal conceptions
of an artist. Therefore, they have the
value of accuracy.
The printing and binding Of this expen-
sive book has cost the Government over
q million dollars up to date while more
than another million has been spent in
salaries. rent and stationery, for the pur-
chase of photographs and private papers
OF individuals. The work is not yet finish
ed. but in year or two a copy OF the
great undertaking may be looked for in
all of the leading libraries Less than
1000 copies will be printed at first, for
II is not expected that the demand for 1t
will be enormous. While the book will
be authoritative, It will contain much
that is very dry. and uninteresting to the
average reader. and hence will never be
very popular.
In one consecutive history may be found
all the war material and reports of COM
mdHuers VI ar1hieS. corps, DrlgaueS ana
regiments deposited in both the Federal
and Confederate State archives. As both
sides of the struggle will have free rep
resentation in the work, the history can
not be said to be impartial. As the joint
production Of the two great sides in that
war; It will make for a better understand
ing between these two sections OF our
country. 1t will be a book that a whole
-one and indivisible-nation can contem-
plate with pride and honor. Even though
1t cost $500. 900 1t will more than repay
the seemingly enormous outlay, for 1t
will leave for future generations a COM
plete. impartial account of our greatest
national struggle. thereby preventing bi-
ased opinions and prejudices from being
handed down.