After the War: A Southern Tour

New York: Moore, Wilstach & Baldwin (1st Edition/1st Printing, 1866). Hardcover with brown cloth boards, gilt titles on spine. NOT A REPRODUCTION OR FACSIMILE. This is a solidly bound book from 1866. Spine is straight and square. Front cover has a vertical crease, but it doesn't extend to the inside of the front cover. A bit of fraying at the head and foot of spine. Corners bumped and worn. Pages age toned. Original owner's name/city/state in pencil on second free endpaper. Tissue guard in place protecting frontispiece. Text clean and unmarked.

ABOUT THE BOOK: 1866 Preface: With the exception of the unhealthy summer months, I spent the greater part of the year following the close of the Rebellion, in traveling through the late Rebel States, passing first around their entire coast line; and, on subsequent trips, crossing by various routes through the interior. I have sought, in the following pages, to show something of the condition in which the war left the South, the feelings of the late insurgents, the situation and capacities of the liberated slaves, and the openings offered, under the changed condition of affairs, to capital and industry from without. A couple of months, this spring, spent on the great cotton plantations of the Mississippi Valley, enabled me to make a closer study of the character of the average plantation negro than tourists have ordinarily found practicable; and the concluding chapters are mainly devoted to these observations. After the inauguration of President Johnson, Mr. Chief-Justice Chase determined to visit the Southern cities, to learn as much as possible, from actual observation, of the true condition of the country. The Secretary of the Treasury was then about to send a revenue cutter to the New Orleans station, and on board of her a special agent, charged with the duty of examining the agencies, and carrying into effect the directions of the Department in the several South Atlantic and Gulf ports. He tendered the use of this vessel to the Chief-Justice, and orders were issued by the President and the Secretaries of War and of the Navy, to the officers in the naval, military, and civil services to afford him all facilities that their respective duties would allow. It was under these circumstances that the Chief-Justice made his Southern journey. He had the best opportunities of information,and communicated his views, from time to time, to the President. As a member of the party on board the cutter, I thus enjoyed considerable limited opportunities of observation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 – December 15, 1912) was an American politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of Ohio in the War, a popular work of history. After assisting Horace Greeley as editor of the New-York Tribune, Reid purchased the paper after Greeley's death in late 1872 and controlled it until his own death. The circulation grew to about 60,000 a day, but the weekly edition became less important. He invested heavily in new technology, such as the Hoe rotary printing press and the linotype machine, but bitterly fought against the unionized workers for control of his shop. As a famous voice of the Republican Party, he was honored with appointments as ambassador to France and Great Britain, as well as numerous other honorific positions. Reid was the party's nominee for Vice President of the United States in the 1892 election. In 1898, President William McKinley appointed him to the American commission that negotiated peace with Spain after the Spanish–American War.