Is Davis a Traitor; Or Was Secession a Constitutional Right Previous to the War of 1861? [the copy of an author of Confederate apologia, with his annotations]

Octavo, 263pp. First published in 1866, this 1907 example is from the third overall printing. Presentation stamp on a preliminary leaf reads: "Presented by Mrs. Virginius Newton, Confederate Reunion, Richmond, VA. May 30-June 3, 1907." The ownership signature of J. O. McGehee of Richmond appears on the same page, and his bookplate is affixed to the front paste-down. McGehee was the author of the 1915 book "Causes That Led to the War Between the States," published in Atlanta in 1915. Throughout this copy of Bledsoe's book, there are marginal pencil annotations. Many of these are mere emphases, however there are significant annotations on perhaps three dozen pages. The general tone of these annotations is caustic in opposition to Abraham Lincoln (at times a Liar, a Prevaricator, and a Dictator) and the federal government, though he seems to sidestep the question of slavery. Some examples: In reply to the words of Henry Ward Beecher and Horace Greely: "Inconceivable liars! Unspeakable hypocrites!" In response to a description of the Republican Party as a party of Northern interests, pledged against the south: "[E]very self-respecting southern man and every son of every self-respecting southern man ought to fight [the Republican Party] to the bitter death, to the end of time, or as long as it rears its Hydra head above the raging Maelstrom of political corruption from which it sprang, on which it thrives and beneath which it must eventually sink to that ultimate extinction and oblivion on which it so richly deserves." Phew! An interesting copy of this apologia for Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy, whose content and annotations are both emblematic of the primary revisionist school of Civil War analysis. in very good condition, with the hinges stressed, but holding, some spotting to the boards, and a chip at the crown. (Note that the book is not signed by Bledsoe, who died before this edition was published.).…