The University of Virginia Press and Rotunda Announce
The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant Digital Edition

 August 2018; Charlottesville, VA: Ulysses S. Grant never intended to make a career in the military, much less go into politics, but he ended up commanding the U.S. forces in perhaps the most important war America ever fought and then serving as its eighteenth president during a period of profound change. Now Rotunda, the electronic imprint of the University of Virginia Press, announces a new digital edition of The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant.

 This digital edition is based on one of the great documentary editions in American scholarship, the original letterpress volumes of Grant’s papers, edited by John Y. Simon. This edition, wrote the New York Times, “helped cement Grant’s place as a literary memoirist and not just a war diarist . . . [and] changed the nature of documentary editing.” The Rotunda edition contains the content of the original thirty-one print volumes edited by Simon, including all editorial annotations, introductory essays, and appendices, as well as an additional volume of supplementary documents completed by John F. Marszalek. This fully searchable online archive is interoperable with other Rotunda titles, including those in its new Antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction collection.

 The digital edition will bring to contemporary scholars and students one of the great characters of American history. Grant’s willingness—it could never be called eagerness—to take on the presidency was inspired by his conviction that what had been so hard won in the war could not be wasted by “mere trading politicians.” However flawed they may have been, actions such as his Civil Rights Act of 1875 and Indian Peace Policy strike the modern observer as farsighted in their prioritizing of human rights and their empathy with both African Americans and native peoples. The edition follows Grant into his post-presidential life, including speeches, interviews, and correspondence surrounding the composition of his memoirs, which revealed him to be one of the most eloquent Americans to pick up a pen.

ABOUT THE PRESS

The University of Virginia Press was founded in 1963 to advance the intellectual interests not only of the University of Virginia but of institutions of higher learning throughout the state. A member of the Association of American University Presses, UVaP currently publishes fifty to sixty new titles annually. New titles are approved by the Board of Directors after a rigorous process of peer review.

The UVaP editorial program focuses primarily on the humanities and social sciences with special concentrations in American history, African American studies, southern studies, literature, architectural and environmental history, and regional books. While it continuously pursues new titles, UVaP also maintains a backlist of more than 1,000 titles in print.

 Rotunda was created for the publication of original digital scholarship along with newly digitized critical and documentary editions in the humanities and social sciences. Rotunda collections combine the originality, intellectual rigor, and scholarly value of traditional peer-reviewed university press publishing with thoughtful technological innovation designed for scholars and students.

QUESTIONS

Please contact ROTUNDA marketing manager Jason Coleman to set up a FREE TRIAL or inquire about pricing: jcoleman@virginia.edu / 434-924-1450