Bidspirit auction | 1981-1985. Time-Life Books. Collector's Library

1981-1985. Time-Life Books. Collector's Library of the Civil War. A Set of Volumes. - This set of volumes belongs to the Collector's Library of the Civil War series, published by Time-Life Books as premium facsimile editions of significant nineteenth and early twentieth-century historical memoirs and accounts. The collection includes Hard Tack and Coffee by John D. Billings, Reminiscences of the Civil War by John B. Gordon, Mosby's Rangers by James J. Williamson, and A Rebel War Clerk's Diary, Vol. II by John B. Jones. Each volume is bound in blue pebble-grained synthetic leather with gilt-stamped decorative elements and titles on the spines and front covers. The front boards feature a blind-embossed relief scene of marching soldiers. Technical features include marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, and an integrated red silk ribbon bookmark in each book. The volumes reproduce original typography, maps, and illustrations, including portraits and sketches by artists such as Charles W. Reed and J.E. Taylor. Modern ISBN barcodes and identification labels are affixed to the rear covers. The volumes show moderate to heavy external wear. The blue synthetic leather covers exhibit significant white scuffing, surface scratching, and shelf wear to the corners and spine ends. Discoloration and surface dust are present on the boards of all volumes. The gilt leaf on the page edges shows minor rubbing and light scratching. Interiors are generally well-preserved with clean pages and tight bindings. One volume shows a small tear to the synthetic leather on the rear cover. Marbled endpapers and ribbon bookmarks remain intact.