The format is approximately 4 inches by 2.5 inches. One side has about a 2.25 inch (center line) leaf pasted to the top half. Underneath is hand written the following statement: A leaf from the tree under which Lew Wallace wrote "Ben Hur" Crawfordsville, Indiana. The back side is blank. Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827 February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is best known for, Ben-Hur, a best-selling novel that has been called "the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century." Wallace served on the military commission for the trials of the Lincoln assassination conspirators, and presided over the trial of Henry Wirz, the commandant of the Andersonville prison camp. Wallace retired to Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he continued to write until his death in 1905. Wallace wrote the manuscript for Ben-Hur, his second and best-known novel, during his spare time at Crawfordsville, and completed it in Santa Fe, while serving as the territorial governor of New Mexico. Ben-Hur, an adventure story of revenge and redemption, is told from the perspective of a Jewish nobleman named Judah Ben-Hur. Harper and Brothers published the book on November 12, 1880. Ben-Hur made Wallace a wealthy man and established his reputation as a famous author. Sales were slow at first; only 2,800 copies were sold in the first seven months after its release, but the book became popular among readers around the world. By 1886, it was earning Wallace about $11,000 in annual royalties (equivalent to $290,000 in 2015 dollars), and provided Wallace's family with financial security. By 1889, Harper and Brothers had sold 400,000 copies and the book had been translated into several languages. In 1900, Ben-Hur became the best-selling American novel of the 19th century, surpassing Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. Amy Lifson, an editor for Humanities, identified it as the most influential Christian book of the 19th century. Others named it one of the best-selling novels of all time. At the time of Ben-Hur's one hundredth anniversary in 1980, it had "never been out of print" and had been adapted for the stage and several motion pictures. One historian, Victor Davis Hanson, has argued that Ben-Hur drew from Wallace's life, particularly his experiences at Shiloh, and the damage it did to his reputation. The book's main character, Judah Ben-Hur, accidentally causes injury to a high-ranking Roman commander, for which he and his family suffer tribulations and calumny. Wallace wrote subsequent novels and biographies, but Ben-Hur remained his most important work. Crawfordsville is a city in Montgomery County in west central Indiana. The city was founded in 1823 on the bank of Sugar Creek, a southern tributary of the Wabash River and named for U.S. Treasury Secretary William H. Crawford. The city is home to the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum, a National Historic Landmark. Generals Lew Wallace spent most of his life in the town. Single sheet, printed on one side.

Seller Inventory # 90698

Contact seller about this item

Report this item

Bibliographic details

Title: A leaf from the tree under which Lew Wallace wrote "Ben Hur" Crawfordsville, Indiana
Author: Wallace, Lew
Publisher: Lew Wallace and Mother Nature n.d., Crawfordsville, Indiana
Condition: Good
Edition: Ephemera--possibly unique.

Ground Zero Books, Ltd.

Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since August 14, 1998

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Item	5 to 20 business days	3 to 6 business days
First item	£ 3.70	£ 5.54

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.

Payment methods

Check
Invoice
Money Order
Paypal

Store description

Founded and operated by trained historians, Ground Zero Books, Ltd., serves the book collector, the scholar, and institutions. We focus on the individual, and pride ourselves on our personal service. Please contact us with your wants, as we have many books not yet listed in our database.

Specialty

Military History, Nuclear, American Revolution, Military Medicine, Vietnam, World War II, British Empire, World War I, Unit Histories, Civil War

Seller's business information

Ground Zero Books, Ltd.

9033 Georgia Avenue
Silver Spring, MD U.S.A. 20910-2254

Contact sellerView this seller's itemsView seller's storefront

Terms of sale

Books are subject to prior sale. Please ask us to hold a book for you before you
mail your check. Books are returnable within 7 days, if not satisfactory. MD
residents add 6% state sales tax.
The mailing address for Ground Zero Books, Ltd. (a subchapter-S corporation) is
P.O. Box 8369, Silver Spring, MD 20907-8369. You can reach us by phone at 301-
585-1471, by fax at 301-920-0253, or by e-mail at gzbooksltd@aol.com. Ground Zero
Books, Ltd., is owned & operated by R. Alan Lewis & Lynne Haims.

Right of withdrawal

If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.

Information regarding the right of withdrawal

Statutory right to withdraw

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.

To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).

We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.

We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.

We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.

We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.

You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A., +1 240-316-0119, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.

Exceptions to the right of withdrawal

The right of withdrawal does not apply to:

The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.

Shipping terms

Orders usually ship within 2 business days. Shipping costs are based on books
weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or oversized, we may contact
you to let you know extra shipping is required.