CLAUSEWITZ, Carl von.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

On War: First complete edition in English of "the most profound exposition of the philosophy of war" (PMM), complete with the portrait frontispiece, which is often lacking.On War first appeared in German in 1832-34 as the first three volumes of Clausewitz's posthumously published collected works, prepared for publication by his widow. A substantial review incorporating paraphrased extracts appeared in British and American periodicals in 1835, but this was the first complete and the first separate English translation.The translator, Colonel James John Graham (1808-1883), was also the author of Elementary History of the Progress of the Art of War (1858). The translation was not a success: "From a business point of view, the publication of On War was a failure. Only 254 copies were printed in 1873... The book drew no substantial audience and Graham's material rewards thus appear to have been few" (Bassford, p. 57). Despite its poor initial sales, Graham's translation remained the standard English version until the appearance of Michael Howard and Peter Paret's Princeton translation of 1976, and its extensive index remains valuable.

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