LINCOLN'S SCAPEGOAT GENERAL: A Life of Benjamin F. Butler, 1818-1893

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company/The Riverside Press, 1965. First edition, first printing. "First printing" statement to the copyright page, and 1965 date printed to the title page. Illustrated with a portrait frontispiece and six maps. A fascinating biography and analytical study of the complex and controversial man who was Chairman of the House Committee on Reconstruction in the 1870s, an astute businessman, a clever politician, a leader, a military governor, used by Lincoln, and considered to be both a bully and timid, for and against Black civil rights, and more. A high-quality, first edition with a sturdy binding, thick-stock paper, and fine type. A hint of fading to the lower spine end, else very nearly fine in blue linen with gilt embossed titles and borders to a deep-blue panel to the front cover and to the spine, blue-and-yellow headband and tail-band; in a very good plus dust jacket with a short tear to the upper front panel edge, tiny chips to the upper spine edge, rubbing to the spine panel, and slight rubbing to the front panel; original $7.50 printed price still intact to the front inner flap. Octavo; 462 pages; bibliographical notes; index.…