The Photographic History of the Civil War

The Photographic History of the Civil War is a 10-volume compilation of war photography of the American Civil War of 1861–1865. Published in 1911 for the semi-centennial of the beginning of the war, a hard copy weighs 42 lb (19 kg) but the work is in the public domain and has been digitized for use online. The lead editor was Francis Trevelyan Miller, who "conducted a nationwide hunt for old photos."^[1] The work is considered a "landmark"^[2] and "the bible of Civil War photography."^[3] It remains a crucial reference resource for historians and is considered a classic work in the field.^[1] A 1963 bibliography called it "the great photographic source work for the war...The text has many errors, but the photographs are superb."^[4]

The photographic history of the Civil War: thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities

Before the Battle of Atlanta: This image of Confederate defenses around Atlanta, Georgia, as encountered by Gen. Sherman, appears in The photographic history of the Civil War – in ten volumes
Author	Francis Trevelyan Miller, editor-in-chief; Robert S. Lanier, managing editor
Country	United States
Language	en-us
Publisher	Review of Reviews Co.
Publication date	1911
OCLC	1467122
Dewey Decimal	973.7
LC Class	11011566

An 1988 bibliography retold a bit of the history of the compilation:^[3]

Edited by one of the time's leading historians, Francis T. Miller, it first appeared as a series of paperback, magazine-like booklets. A ten-volume, blue-backed set of the complete series appeared in 1911, on the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the war. Perhaps the most interesting chapter is the very first one in the first volume, "Photographing the Civil War," by Henry Wysham Lanier, which both describes period efforts to photograph the war and shows pictures of photographers in the field. Many of the images in this book were obtained from veterans who were able to provide first-hand captions.

By the early 1950s it was "long out of print" but the "desideratum" of avid Civil War collectors and historians; reprinting was considered but it was determined that it would be an "economic impossibility."^[5] There was a five-volume reprint published in 1957 with an introduction by Henry Steele Commager.^[4]

Volume titles:

1. The Opening Battles.
2. Two Years of Grim War.
3. The Decisive Battles.
4. The Cavalry.
5. Forts and Artillery.
6. The Navies.
7. Prisons and Hospitals.
8. Soldier Life and Secret Service.
9. Poetry and Eloquence.
10. Armies and Leaders.

A significant later effort to collect photos of the American Civil War was the National Historical Society's The Image of War, 1861–1865 in six volumes.^[1]