Charles Boutell

Arms and Armour in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, from George S. Patton's library, signed three times and annotated.

Arms and Armour in Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

• Charles Boutell (English).
• London: Gibbings & Company, Limited, 1902.
• Octavo.
• Xx, 296 pages.
• Plates and Illustrations.
• Publisher's blue cloth, upper cover pictorially stamped in gilt, housed in a morocco backed clamshell box.

Following his stint in the Office of the Chief of Cavalry in Washington, D.C. from 1927 to 1931, Patton attended the Army War College, graduating in June 1932. The present volume from his library was acquired and read by Patton at that time.

Perhaps no other military leader since George Washington wrote so frequently in his letters or diaries about his reading on the art of war. Patton's library was largely inherited by his son Major General George Patton III and donated to West Point, though a small number were inherited by others and sold in the last forty years.

The present work concerning weaponry and armor is signed by Patton three times: in full on the front endpaper (with the date 1932); in full on the upper cover; and on the spine ("Patton"). In addition Patton has annotated the work, with several passages underlined or otherwise highlighted and a few marginal notes. Perhaps the most intriguing are in the chapter on the weapons of ancient Rome, at the end of which he writes in blue pencil: "World war tactics which we still use resemble the Phalanx ... Mobility!!!!"