Thomas Eckert’s Own Set of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Perhaps the Most Important Set to Reach the Market

Eckert was head of the U.S. Military Telegraph office in Washington. He organized and administered the War Department’s military telegraph, and was responsible for sending and receiving many of the messages.The War Department’s Telegraph Office was next to the White House. President Lincoln spent significant time in the telegraph office sending and receiving war correspondence. He often walked alone from the White House to the office, and chatted with Eckert and the operators. As Bates later wrote, “During the Civil War the President spent more of his waking hours in the War Department telegraph office than in any other place, except the White House. While in the Telegraph Office he was comparatively free from official cares, and therefore more apt to disclose his natural traits and disposition than elsewhere under other conditions.” In fact, it is said that Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation at Eckert’s desk..

Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880-1890. This set, unique in its provenance, is bound in quarter letter / morocco binding and consists of volumes1-42 of series 1. Eckerts name is stamped in gold on the bottom of the spine of each one. Some deterioration to covers on some of the 49 separate books, a handful lacking one cover, interior in fine condition.