American Historical Ephemera and Photography Featuring the Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann

Full plate tintype of drummer James V. Roberts, 118th NY. (Slight loss of emulsion at edges, appears to have been framed, never cased).  Roberts is posed with a U.S. Infantry drum at his side, a pistol in his belt, and his hand resting upon the handle of a sword.

[With:] The Holy Bible, Containing Old and New Testaments. London: G.E. Eyre and W. Spottiswoode, 1855. 32mo. (Title page detatched, gatherings loose, toned.) Contemporary pressed paper boards (lacking spine, hinges fragile, scuffs to extremities). Provenance: James V. Roberts (ownership inscription to inner front board); Mary E. Roberts (stencil to front free endpaper, according to the 1860 Census in Plattsburgh, NY, Mary E. was sister to James, 3 years his senior). Features a presentation bookplate printed in blue and red with an American flag with a riband reading "To the Defenders of their Country!" reading, "Presented by the Clinton Co. B.S.N.Y. September, 1862" followed by Bible verses. 

James V. Roberts (1845-1863) enlisted on 21 July 1862 at Plattsburg, Clinton County, NY as a private at just 18 years old. He was mustered into Company H of the 118th New York Infantry, participating in the Siege of Suffolk, but died of disease on 7 October 1863 at Fort Monroe, VA.