Confederate Imprint: The State of the Country, Rev. J. H. Thornwell, D.D., 1861 / SOLD

Description

Confederate Imprint: The State of the Country, Rev. J. H. Thornwell, D.D., 1861

 

Found at the North Carolina State Capitol, Raleigh, in 1865**

A scarce wartime Confederate religious-political pamphlet, The State of the Country by Rev. James Henley Thornwell, D.D., of the Theological Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina. Printed in New Orleans in 1861 at the True Witness and Sentinel office, 94 Camp Street. Original yellow printed wrappers with ornate border design; 15 pp.

 

The upper margin bears a remarkable contemporary inscription in period ink:

“Found at the Capitol building, Raleigh, NC, 1865.”

This note alone provides powerful end-of-war provenance, placing the pamphlet in the North Carolina State Capitol at the moment of Confederate collapse and Federal occupation.

 

On the reverse is an additional handwritten note preserved on the imprint, written by a possible soldier named George to his parents, stating in part:

“I hold this pamphlet from the capital building in Raleigh. It is a good opinion of the teachings of the southern pulpit.”

 

Rev. J. H. Thornwell—one of the Confederacy’s most influential theologians—was a leading defender of secession and theologian of the Southern Presbyterian Church. His publications circulated widely among Confederate officers, legislators, and clergy, and wartime printings such as this New Orleans edition are decidedly scarce, many having been destroyed during the war or in the chaotic final months of 1865.

 

Condition: Light edge wear to wrappers, expected toning, minor corner loss; overall strong, solid, and well-preserved in its original printed covers. Archivally framed for display.

 

A rare surviving Confederate theological imprint with direct battlefield-era provenance to the Raleigh State Capitol at the end of the war—an exceptional example combining Southern religious ideology with documented 1865 recovery history.

 

Inventory Number: HIS 285