Grant Grant Deciphering Help

huskerblitz

Major
Joined
Jun 8, 2013
Location
Nebraska
I need some help to decipher part of this letter from U. S. Grant. What I need help with is in the left center of the page, looking like Scar... series. In the letter he is listing some of the resources he had when he wrote his memories. Does anyone know of a resource he might have used that would be close to this spelling?

PS: I can't post the entire letter as it is privately owned.

Screen Shot 2019-02-28 at 7.25.25 PM.png
 
Looks like it might say "Scrivener series"?

From: A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who could read and write or who wrote letters to court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying written material. This usually indicated secretarial and administrative duties such as dictation and keeping business, judicial, and historical records for kings, nobles, temples, and cities. Scriveners later developed into public servants, accountants, lawyers and petition writers.[1

Kind of fits with the surrounding content. (?)
 
Could it be Scribner’s Series?
That would make some sense, but I'm just not seeing any 'b' in that word at all. The best I can tell it's Scairner but there is nothing that pops up. But for the life of me I just can't see Scribner out of that word.

Looks like it might say "Scrivener series"?

From: A scrivener (or scribe) was a person who could read and write or who wrote letters to court and legal documents. Scriveners were people who made their living by writing or copying written material. This usually indicated secretarial and administrative duties such as dictation and keeping business, judicial, and historical records for kings, nobles, temples, and cities. Scriveners later developed into public servants, accountants, lawyers and petition writers.[1

Kind of fits with the surrounding content. (?)
Was there any resource series that would have been referred to that?
 
Grant is probably referring to Scribner's Monthly Magazine, which was the immediate predecessor of The Century Magazine. Century published the articles on the Civil War in serial form which were later published as the four volumes of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. Just as Battles and Leaders is an excellent reference now, the articles would have been an excellent reference for Grant in writing his memoirs.

Regards,
Don Dixon
 
Maybe a bit more background would help? A soldier offered assistance, if needed, when he heard that Grant was writing his memoirs. This is part of his reply:

I have in my office the rebellion records, as far as
published, and the record compiled by Frank Moore
during and after the war. The latter is composed
of letters from the Army, and reports. I have also
the Sca*** series. As a matter of fact I have
not found it necessary to write a single letter
for the purpose of getting information about the war.







 
I'm pretty sure he's talking about Scribner's and he just mis-spelled it as Scrivner. I thinkk he just swagged the curl on his "c" into the "r"
View attachment 294690

Certainly sounds logical. I accounted for misspellings but never would have gotten the 'v' to a 'b'. I'm not familiar with the work so that wouldn't have helped me much.
 
I think the idea that the word in question is a misspelled "Scribners" is certainly plausible. The reference materials brought to Mt. McGregor were removed by the family when they left the cottage after his passing. Otherwise the cottage would undoubtedly still have all the materials in the collection. I have personally done some research on Charles Webster, Mark Twain and the publishing of the memoirs. Might I ask the O.P. @huskerblitz if this is part of a specific project your willing to divulge? I just picked up the following item on Ebay today, a sales card for Grant's Memoirs dated July 24, 1885, one day after his death.

Book Sales Card.jpg
 
"Charles Scribner's Sons," was a famous, late 19th and early 20th century New York-based publishing house.

That's probably what everyone's pointing to, but remember the timeframe and that Grant was a hero, at least for a while after the war.
 
Might I ask the O.P. @huskerblitz if this is part of a specific project your willing to divulge?
Sure. Nothing really related to Grant, but the letter I posted is a reply to a member of the 22nd Kentucky, the regiment I research. The owner of the letter wasn't sure of that part of the letter. So in my research of the regiment, I came across this letter.
 
Back
Top