When I went off to the University of Illinois in 1975, I was a participant in the James Scholars program. That provided me with the privilege of access to the “stacks” at the University of Illinois library, something that undergrads usually were not granted. The stacks consisted of 13 floors of rare volumes. For a bibliophile like myself who had previously had only had access to the Carnegie library in Paris, Illinois with a fairly small number of volumes, such access was a rare treat. There I first encountered the Holy of Holies for anyone interested in studying the Civil War: the 128 books of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion. (more…)
Donald R. McClarey
Paul Zummo
