ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512260081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Is it real or just a good forgery?
That's the question Civil War collectors are asking about a Bible purchased by Doug Sanders and allegedly once owned by Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Sanders deals in rare Civil War books and collectibles. In September, he got a call from someone claiming to be a descendant of a Union soldier and wanting to sell an item that had been in the family for 130 years - Robert E. Lee's Bible.
``My first thought was a little bit of fear,'' Sanders said. ``Stonewall Jackson's Bible has been forged. I was really cautious.''
As is customary in his line of work, Sanders sent a check - he won't say how big - for the chance to examine the volume. Arriving by express mail in a simple padded envelope was the small Bible bearing what looked like Lee's signature.
``I couldn't believe it was sent that way,'' Sanders told The News & Observer of Raleigh. ``I nearly had a heart attack.''
Sanders, 33, had the distinctive script examined and was told it is authentic. He also invited Civil War autograph expert Ronald Roy Seagrave of Fredericksburg, Va., to examine the Bible. Seagrave, author of ``Civil War Autographs and Manuscripts,'' said the signature is Lee's.
Sanders, who once sold a two-line memo that Lee signed near the end of the Civil War for $16,000, is now looking for a buyer for the Bible. He will not disclose the seller's identity or reason for selling the Bible, nor will he name a price - although he expects a serious sum.
``This is a phenomenal piece,'' he said. ``If I were a rich man, I'd keep it.''
Historians say it's possible the Bible actually belonged to Lee, but they are being cautious.
``It's plausible,'' said John Shelton Reed, director of the Center for the Study of the South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ``My first reaction is skepticism at such a find. It's like the Hitler diaries, which were found to be forged.''
Historian and author Shelby Foote said he wasn't sure what to think about Sanders' find.
``There are so many skillful forgeries,'' he said. ``There are forged Lee letters, all kinds of things.''
Sanders, whose great-great-grandfather served with a Tennessee unit during the war, runs McGowan Book Co. out of his Durham, N.C., home. Now, he says, he has a rare treasure that belonged to a rare man.
``To think he might have been sitting in his tent consulting his Bible before sending his men off to Pickett's Charge or some other big battle,'' Sanders mused. ``Well, it really does something for me to hold it in my hand.''
The Bible, published in London in 1824, is about 3 inches by 5 inches and about 11/2 inches thick. Editions of that kind were called pocket testaments, and soldiers often carried them inside their uniform jackets. On the title page, written in a beautiful hand, are the words: ``R.E. Lee, City of Mexico, Sept. 1847.''
In September 1847, Lee was with the victorious U.S. Army forces as they marched into Mexico City to conclude the Mexican-American War.
Inside the Bible was a notarized piece of paper, dated July 25, 1912. In stilted language, Charles F. Bochterle of Narragansett, R.I., recounted how he came by the Bible.
Bochterle said he had been a private in the 1st New Jersey Volunteer Cavalry. On April 5, 1865 - four days before Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Va. - the 1st New Jersey was ordered to destroy Lee's baggage train, which Union forces had captured at Amelia Springs, Va.
``Upon setting fire to these wagons, I picked up under the wagon carrying his own baggage and which had been broken into and ransacked by some soldiers a Bible bearing the printed date of 1824,'' Bochterle wrote.
``This Bible when I found it bore the signature on the first page ... of `R.E. Lee, City of Mexico, Sept. 1847.'''
Union troop rolls list a Charles Bochterlie serving with the 1st New Jersey, and histories report that unit was among those ordered to destroy the wagon train.
Sanders said names on the rolls were often misspelled, and that if someone were trying to pull a scam, they likely would have spelled the name on the affidavit to match that on the Union rolls.
The affidavit also refers to Amelia Springs as Eurelia Springs - an understandable error, Sanders said, for an elderly man trying to remember a place from 47 years earlier. A forger might have written the town's name correctly, Sanders noted.
Sanders said he would like to see the Bible added to the collection of Lee's personal effects at Washington and Lee University in Lexington. Lee served as president of the school after the war, and his body is entombed there in Lee Chapel.
LENGTH: Medium: 90 linesby CNB