The Centennial History of the Civil War: The Coming Fury, Terrible Swift Sword, Never Call Retreat by CATTON, Bruce - 1961

New York: Doubleday & Company, 1961. Hardcover. Complete 3-volume set. Small 4to. Two-tone cloth, pictorial dust jackets. 565pp; xi, 559pp; xi, 555pp. Map endpapers, maps (some color). Near fine/very good. Varying levels of jacket edgewear, a few small edge chips, bit of rubbing. A tight and attractive first edition of this classic trilogy, with fine autograph addition: Neatly tipped into the first volume is a Typed Note Signed from Catton, 1p, 5½" X 8½", New York, NY, 12 June n.y. Addressed to noted Lincoln/Civil War scholar Arnold F. Gates (1914-93). Near fine. On letterhead of "American Heritage" (where Catton served as senior editor), Catton writes: "Here is the final manuscript; the form which you sent me, all filled out, is in this envelope. I'm afraid this item just does not measure up to the other two...." Signed simply "Bruce" in his typical red ballpoint. Interesting if cryptic -- perhaps having to do with a magazine submission. E.B. Long (in Nevins' "Civil War Books") calls this "One of the outstanding literary achievements of the Centennial years; Catton here demonstrates his prodigious ability to tell a story well without neglecting detail," while David Eicher calls it "masterfully written simple history, lightly documented and sweeping in its overview of a multitude of complex events...." NEVINS II, 7. EICHER 736.