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Re: Gen. John Tidball -- 2nd request



Karen,
You may not be aware that a great many Civil War collectors
go to these auctions and purchase items for individual collections,
and these items may never see the light of day.  I attended an
auction to try to purchase the journals, 1858-1862, of a young
Alabama woman who had kept copious notes on life in the
South and the Civil War in this area.   After the four journals
sold for $1,200, well beyond what resources I had, and well
beyond what I believed they were worth ...  I talked to the
purchaser.  Turned out he was a young man who had been
driving by in his pickup when he saw the "auction" sign ...
decided to purchase them for his wife.  "She likes to write"
he explained, and although she'd never published or sold
anything, he got them for her thinking maybe she could
use them in her writing.   I gave him my business card, but
never heard from him again.

Near my hometown of Springfield, Illinois, I attended as a
teenager, one of the last Barrett auctions of Lincolniania,
and many of these items also scattered to the winds.

Dean

At 12:34 PM 2/14/00 -0500, you wrote:
This is my second request but I just can't believe no one has Tidball
material other than Gettysburg College and West Point!  Could you please
check your holdings?

A patron is trying to locate the following item which was sold at public
acution by Coins & Currency, Philadelphia, April 19&20, 1968.  Gettysburg
College purchased the other Tidball material in the auction, but not this
item.

"1868 diary written by General John Tidball relating to his journey to
Alaska and his assuming command of various posts shortly after the purchase
of Alaska by the United States.  72 pages written in  pencil, with vivid
description of Alaska and sketches.  Beginning when he left San Francisco
(August 8, 1868), his duties took him to Sitka, Kodiak, Kenay, Wrangel,
Tongass and other points of the frontier region.  Tidball was a Civil War
general, Commandant of Cadets at West Point, aide to General Sherman in the
West, commander of numberous garrisons in Alaska, and author of a number of
minilaty manuals.  His writing is interesting and exciting with remarkable
candor.  His Alaska diary gives a vivid insight into everyday life in early
Alaska as well as a log of miles traveled between various points and a
chart of fur prices....also twelve printed orders related to Tidball's
service in Alaska signed by various aides to General Canby, Schofield,
Halleck, Whipple and Thomas."

Would you please check your holdings to see if you have this item and
contact me?  Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Karen Drickamer


------------------------------
Karen Dupell Drickamer
Head of Special Collections, College Archivist
Musselman Library/Gettysburg College
Mail Box 420
Gettysburg, PA 17325
Tel. 717-337-7015   Fax 717-337-6666
kdrickam@gettysburg.edu
http://www.gettysburg.edu/library/specoll/specoll.html

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Dean DeBolt
University Librarian
Special Collections and West Florida Archives
John C. Pace Library
University of West Florida
11000 University Parkway
Pensacola, FL  32514-5750
Tele:  850-474-2213;   Fax:  850-474-3338

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Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
    http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>