"MR. LEE'S PLAN - MARCH 29, 1777." THE TREASON OF CHARLES LEE MAJOR GENERAL SECOND IN COMMAND IN THE AMERICAN ARMY OF THE REVOLUTION.
Moore, George H.:

New York. 1860. xii,115,[1]pp. plus folding facsimiles and plate. Half title. Frontispiece portrait. Narrow quarto. Original red gilt cloth. Cloth somewhat stained. Two ownership inscriptions and small bookplate on front endpapers. A few instances of foxing, closed tear in one facsimile. Very good. This copy is inscribed by George H. Moore on the half title, and tipped in at the front is a letter from the famed historian, George Bancroft, to the book's first owner, I.K. Tefft, written in New York, May 17, 1858. In the letter Bancroft thanks Tefft for providing him with a correction in one of Bancroft's works. Bancroft goes on to discuss the character of Charles Lee and asserts that historians now have written proof of Lee's treason: "Lee was a traitor to everybody that trusted him...I have read in his own paper worse than Arnold's, and all in his own handwriting." Tefft was a Savannah businessman, autograph collector, and a founder of the Georgia Historical Society in 1839. His autograph collection was sold at auction in 1867. Moore was one of the first authors to bring to light the document Lee composed for Gen. Howe during his British captivity, to aid the British in the defeat of the American army during the Revolution. The manuscript, a facsimile of which is included here, was found among the Strachey papers in 1858 and is now generally deemed as proof that Lee was a traitor. SABIN 50380.

(Item ID: WRCAM27949) $450.00