Uncommon copy with thousands of Civil War-era patent drawings previously owned by a Civil War colonel. At the front of the book is a handwritten note detailing the book's provenance, as follows: Austin H. Received Nov 30, 1877 through the kindness of an old friend and fellow Democrat, an Honest man and Representative of the people, [full name illegible, though'Butler' appears to be the surname]. Patterson was a Democrat Party politician from New Jersey whose political career was interrupted by the Civil War.
He served in the War as captain of Company A of the 14th New Jersey Regiment, as a staff officer of the First Army Corps Army of the Potomac, and was promoted to major of the Thirty Fifth New Jersey Volunteers... He retired from military service with the rank of colonel. Patterson reentered politics at the end of the War.