The Marne Miracle: Illustrating the Principles of War
Washington, D.C. United States Infantry Association, 1923. Very Good. Item #000910
Washington, D.C.: United States Infantry Association, 1923. First Edition. Small Octavo; 196pp, including 3 final pages of publisher's prospectuses. Five folded maps on watermarked onion-skin inserted at end. (Originally six maps, one now missing; none were originally pasted in by publisher, simply inserted.) Turquoise cloth with blind-embossed front panel border; gilt lettering on front panel and spine.
Binding soiled from normal use; spine browned and lettering darkened; crown and foot of spine frayed; spine slightly rolled; panel corners bumped and minimally frayed. Front paste-down has handsome bookplate of General William Jordan Verbeck; bookplate image of owl perched atop an open volume between two candles. Small stamp with Verbeck's name in military purple ink on both front endpapers. Rear hinge paper cracked but hinge is solid. Textblock tight, clean and unmarked. Of the six loose maps originally published, five remain, all in excellent shape without misfolds. (Map No. 2 "Attack on LIege" is lacking.) The "General Map" has Verbeck's neat numbered-grid markup in pencil.
Naylor explains the German defeat at the Marne without vociferous diatribes, but rather with a military tactician's empathy for good tactics (though those of the enemy) that went awry through ill execution and defective command. An interestingly objective perspective on the Marne coming only a decade after the famous battle.
Price: $50.00