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Confederate States Almanac for the Year of our Lord 1864 Being Bissextile, or Leap Year, and the 4th Year of the Independence of the Confederate States of America. Calculations made at University of Alabama.

Macon, Georgia: Published for the trade by publishers Burke, Boykin & Co. and publisher Sigmund Heinrich Goetzel, 1863. 12mo (7” x 4.5”), printed self-wrappers. 23 pp. Disbound. Ownership stamp at bottom of front and back wrappers reading “James W. Eldridge, Sergeant Co. A, 127th N.Y.S. Vols. 1st Lieutenant, 23 U.S.

A Confederate almanac by noted southern printer Sigmund Goetzel, evidently acquired during the Civil War by Union soldier James Eldridge.

Containing the astronomical matter typical of almanacs, this War-time publication includes a table of the moon’s phases for the cities of Richmond, Raleigh, Charleston and Mobile with a middle column briefly noting battles of the War as well as other historical events. Four pages at the end chronicle “Items of Southern History,” beginning with the structure and personnel of the Confederate government and listing more exhaustively various battles and “important events” from 1860 to 1862. The history commences with Abraham Lincoln’s election on 4 March 1860 and South Carolina’s secession, and ends with various Confederate victories including the Battles of Richmond and Big Hill in Kentucky and the Battle of Thoroughfare in Virginia. The Union Army is described as “the Abolitionists.”

The back wrapper features an advertisement for the bookseller and stationer J.W. Pease of Columbus, Georgia. Another ad, placed by printing house Burke, Boykin & Co. of Macon for “Rags! Rags! Rags!” reflects the war-time paper shortage. Offering twelve cents per pound, the firm appeals to the public with humorous verses: “Save your rags, and save your tags / Save your good-for-nothing bags— / Bring them to this office, soon. / Bring them morning, eve, or noon... / Bring us scraps of cotton thread. / Bring the night-cap from your head…”

“Whether concerned with the historical record, print culture, Southern literature, or book collecting, scholars have regarded Austria-born Sigmund Heinrich Goetzel as a significant publishing figure in the Deep South, both in the late antebellum period and during the Civil War” (Baker, Cathleen A. The Enterprising S. H. Goetzel: Antebellum and Civil War Publisher in Mobile, Alabama at thelegacypress.com).

James W. Eldridge enlisted in 1862 at New York City as a Private into “A” Co. NY 127th Infantry and was promoted several times over the course of the war before being mustered out in 1865.

CONDITION: Spine perished, all leaves loose, lightly chipped, a few short tears, toned.

Item #5409

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