Signed book: Rifles and Rifle Practice: An Elementary Treatise upon the Theory of Rifle Firing by C. M. Wilcox. First edition, first printing. NY: D. Van Nostrand, 1853. Coarse olive cloth with gilt-stamped spine and cover device of a uniformed soldier holding a rifle, 5 x 7.75, 276 pages. Signed on the inside of the front cover “John Wilkes Booth, May 10th 1861.” This significant date—less than a month after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter—makes a compelling case for Booth’s purchase of such a book as a direct consequence of the outbreak of the Civil War. Four days earlier, on May 6, Arkansas and Tennessee officially seceded, and, more significantly, Jefferson Davis signed a bill declaring that the Confederacy recognized a state of war with the United States. Booth’s sympathy for the Southern cause and his enmity toward Abraham Lincoln is well known. A month after Lincoln’s election in 1860, Booth wrote a speech decrying abolitionism and expressing strong support of the South and slavery. His ill feelings were further inflamed when Lincoln declared martial law in the border state of Maryland, the home state of Booth and his family, and ordered the imprisonment of pro-secession agitators. One of the most famous “close encounters” between Booth and Lincoln was the president’s attendance at an 1863 performance by Booth in a play titled The Marble Heart at Ford’s Theatre. A member of the presidential party on that occasion, Mary Clay, later recounted: “Wilkes Booth played the part of the villain. The box was right on the stage, with a railing around it. Mr. Lincoln sat next to the rail, I next to Mrs. Lincoln, Miss Sallie Clay and the other gentlemen farther around. Twice Booth in uttering disagreeable threats in the play came very near and put his finger close to Mr. Lincoln's face; when he came a third time I was impressed by it, and said, ‘Mr. Lincoln, he looks as if he meant that for you.’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘he does look pretty sharp at me, doesn't he?’” Wilcox’s book includes both theoretical and practical advice on the handling of firearms. Particularly chilling in the hindsight of history are detailed discussions of such topics as “Line of sight,” “Line of fire,” “Point blank,” and “Dangerous space.” The text is supplemented by several fold-out illustrations depicting numerous types of projectiles, shot patterns, types of sights, and more. Typical light rubbing and mild soiling to covers (tiny snag to top of front joint), faint spotting to front matter (affecting blanks only; the endpapers not affected in the least), subtle lifting of front pastedown along gutter (mainly near bottom and not affecting signature), and light handling wear to fold-out diagrams (one with repaired tear), otherwise fine, clean condition. All of these points are noted only for strictest accuracy befitting a book of such importance; none materially affects the appearance or integrity of the book, and, indeed, the overall appearance is quite appealing and far superior to typical books of this date. According to American Book Prices Current, only one other publication bearing Booth’s signature—a 32-page paperbound play signed in 1858—has emerged at auction in the last four decades. As what appears to be the only surviving book from Booth’s personal library—signed in the earliest weeks of the Civil War and having such a startling association with one of the most notorious deeds in American history—the present item takes a place in the topmost echelon of Booth relics ever to reach the market. A singular opportunity for the advanced collector! Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
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