American Historical Ephemera & Photography

TACITUS, Publius Cornelius (ca 56-ca 120). WEISSE, Christian Hermann (1801-1866), editor. C. Cornelii Taciti Opera Quoad Extant. Ex Fide Optimorum Librorum. Leipzig: Caroli Tauchnitii [Karl Tauchnitz], 1846. Volume I, 12mo. (Toning, brown spotting.) Contemporary one-quarter morocco with marbled boards, smooth spine with gilt-lettering (chipping and scuffs). New stereotyped edition.

Provenance: Matthew White Williamson, to John Warren Rice Moore, to John Edwin Roller, to Peter Samuel Roller, Jr., to R.R. Richardson. (Extensive ownership inscriptions, see below for inscription and biographical information). 

A remarkable relic from three Virginia Military Institute cadets, all of whom served during the Civil War in Virginia regiments. 

The earliest owner of the Latin text appears to Matthew White Williamson (1845-1930) who inscribed "M.W.Wm.'Son / March 28th 1861 / Bought of Dr. Pain 1.30". Williamson was a VMI student who enlisted as a private into Company F of the 1st Virginia Cavalry present and many major engagements including Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, the 1864 Valley Campaigns (in which he was wounded several times), and the Appomattox Campaign. 

The book was then purchased by John Warren Rice Moore who inscribed, "J. W. R. Moore's Book, bought of M.W.W." Moore, also a VMI cadet, enlisted on 23 April 1863 in the Danville Light Artillery (B.Z. Price's Company of Light Artillery). He returned to VMI by 1865 and his house in Mt. Jackson, VA is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The third cadet, and the man who inscribed it most extensively was John Edwin Roller (1844-1918), writing "J.Ed. Roller's Book  / V.M.I. January 24, 1861 / Bought of J.W.R. Moore", inscribing it again near the rear, and on the lower page edge. Roller enlisted as a private and was present at the First Battle of Bull Run with the 1st Virginia Cavalry (21 July 1861). He returned to VMI and graduated in July 1863 before being commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in Company G of the 2nd Confederate States Engineers, with whom he served until the end of the war. In 1872, he was appointed a brigadier general of the state militia. He was a noted antiquarian, book collector, and lawyer. He then gave the tome to his brother Peter Samuel Roller Jr. (1862-1914), inscribing "Transferred to P.S. Roller Jr. / 1880-1-2 AM Academy" and "1881 Transferred to P.S. Roller Jr. A.M.A." Lastly, the younger Roller transferred the book to an unknown person in 1893: "Transferred to R.R. Richardson. 1893. A.M.A"

ADDITIONALLY INSCRIBED on the rear fly leaf by Dr. Robert Lewis Madison (1828-1878, "Dr. R. L. Madison / Prof of Latin / V.M.I.") and VMI founder Colonel John Thomas Lewis Preston (1811-1890, "Col. J.T.L. Preston").

Being a Latin textbook, Roller or another of the cadets appears to have secured the signatures of Dr. Madison and the founder of their school. A rear inscription lists the "Standing of 2nd Class Latin" with Roller listed third behind R.A. Boyd and R.A. Crawford. 

Dr. Robert Lewis Madison (1828-1878) was appointed to VMI Faculty as "Mercer Professor of Animal and Vegetable Physiology Applied to Agriculture" and as a Post Surgeon. Inscriptions here suggest that he also instructed Latin. Enlisted as a surgeon with the Confederate army, in charge of a hospital in Orange County, VA. He was the family physician of General Robert E. Lee in his later years. 

Colonel John Thomas Lewis Preston (1811-1890) was the founder of the Virginia Military Institute who also served as colonel of the 9th Virginia Infantry in the Shenandoah Valley.