Tweet
I have been asked to write a bit about my books for the new AC "Book Shelf". While this is to me both an honor and pleasure, it may come as a surprise to some that I am uncomfortable with self-promotion despite some career history as a "publicist", "promoter" and Marketing Director.
Anyway, I have written two books on Confederate saddlery. Both are getting quite "long in the tooth" (as it has been over 10 years since each were published) and we have “beat these horses to death” (pun intended). So while I will probably talk a little about each of them I will likely drift off topic a bit and end up in OZ. Oh, I might also like to add that I am currently working on a third "saddle book". The working title of it is, "American Riding Saddles, 1790-1920". It has come about largely due to my writing about Confederate saddlery (it is a curse and an addiction). However, some people have labored under the erroneous impression that I know everything about all saddles. I assure all that I am reminded daily I am but a mere neophyte at best and likely much less informed than the “experts”. But, it has lead me to a real study of this wider area that I find is full of mis-information, folklore and no small amount of the vast unknown (if that makes sense). It is strongly related to Confederate saddles and its genesis came to me in much the same way. That is, wanting to fill a void if not for others then for me personally. This project is a year or two from completion but I thought I might mention it here.
Ok,.....
1. Confederate Saddles & Horse Equipment....Since any one can read it, rather than re-hash the book I think it more interesting to perhaps talk about what we have learned since its publication in 2001.
-I have had the pleasure of being exposed to dozens of newly discovered saddlery that I believe are truly Confederate pieces. Not many, in all perhaps another dozen or so CS (Jenifer and Mac) saddles but many more bits, saddle bags, and other pieces. Interestingly, The biggest and most obvious point is that no two items are alike. Virtually no saddles were "maker-marked". Further, almost no consistency can be found in surviving Confederate saddlery. Alot can be made of that statement but it is nonetheless interesting to me.
- Sadly, this has exposed the greatest failure in my books. I thought that my research and writing might make it more clear as to what is Confederate saddlery and what is not. It is obvious to me the books have not changed things much. Here are some truisms....
Everyone has a Confederate saddle they got from someone's family that "Grandpa rode in da wa". Literally any piece of CW trash can be sold on ebay for a premium if it was "dug at Gettysburg" (or for the cavalry experts) "Brandy Station". Most dealers know only enough about saddlery to be dangerous or blissfully ignorant enough to remain guilt free when they sell a piece of junk or mis-identified cheap junk item to a collector that desperately wants to buy something for nothing. Dealers and collectors still look at a rock and call it a diamond. People see what they want to see despite evidence to the contrary.
I suppose it is human nature.
- All too often I have been asked for an opinion, given an answer based upon sound reasoning, years of research, handling thousands of artifacts, etc., etc. and then being told I am full of *&%#$%. From this very scenario I have lost many friends (if they were to begin with) to the extent I studiously try to avoid these kind of entanglements or failing that, provide "non-answers". Sad but true.
My second book was "Made in the CSA, Saddle Makers of the Confederacy". It groups together a pile of information I could not put in the first book. Not as a “document dump” but to save these treasures for posterity. Great pieces of Confederate saddlery information, photos, etc. including details about various saddle makers and, most important to me personally, brief synopsis of each Confederate arsenal and depot. These men, places and factors are the un-sung heros of the un-known side of the war. That is, those that turned a virtually backward, agrarian economy that made almost nothing in 1861 into a powerful fighting machine of manufacture, ingenuity, innovation and ersatz production. Truly genius was needed to make this happen.
I might add that the central person for was none other than a "Yankee" Josiah Gorgas. If you are a Confederate author or even a simple student of the war I suggest that everyone MUST READ "Plough Shares in Swords" by the great author Frank Vandiver. It is the story of Josiah Gorgas and his Ordnance Department. The South would have lost the war and been a footnote of history in less than a year if it was not for him, his genius and his unbelievably talented people that he surrounded himself with. Truly amazing story of American will. A must read if you want to put the rest of the Confederate war in prospective.
OK, I have gone on long enough here and YUP, I got way off in OZ (sorry) but it has been kinda therapy for me. I feel better now. So, Eric Tipton do I owe you anything for this session?
BTW, If your really interested in knowing more about my books, feature articles etc. and not listen to me whining about all of this other dribble then please wander over to my web site...... www.confederatesaddles.com
PS: Question, comments or psychoanalysis welcomed.
Best,
Ken R Knopp
Anyway, I have written two books on Confederate saddlery. Both are getting quite "long in the tooth" (as it has been over 10 years since each were published) and we have “beat these horses to death” (pun intended). So while I will probably talk a little about each of them I will likely drift off topic a bit and end up in OZ. Oh, I might also like to add that I am currently working on a third "saddle book". The working title of it is, "American Riding Saddles, 1790-1920". It has come about largely due to my writing about Confederate saddlery (it is a curse and an addiction). However, some people have labored under the erroneous impression that I know everything about all saddles. I assure all that I am reminded daily I am but a mere neophyte at best and likely much less informed than the “experts”. But, it has lead me to a real study of this wider area that I find is full of mis-information, folklore and no small amount of the vast unknown (if that makes sense). It is strongly related to Confederate saddles and its genesis came to me in much the same way. That is, wanting to fill a void if not for others then for me personally. This project is a year or two from completion but I thought I might mention it here.
Ok,.....
1. Confederate Saddles & Horse Equipment....Since any one can read it, rather than re-hash the book I think it more interesting to perhaps talk about what we have learned since its publication in 2001.
-I have had the pleasure of being exposed to dozens of newly discovered saddlery that I believe are truly Confederate pieces. Not many, in all perhaps another dozen or so CS (Jenifer and Mac) saddles but many more bits, saddle bags, and other pieces. Interestingly, The biggest and most obvious point is that no two items are alike. Virtually no saddles were "maker-marked". Further, almost no consistency can be found in surviving Confederate saddlery. Alot can be made of that statement but it is nonetheless interesting to me.
- Sadly, this has exposed the greatest failure in my books. I thought that my research and writing might make it more clear as to what is Confederate saddlery and what is not. It is obvious to me the books have not changed things much. Here are some truisms....
Everyone has a Confederate saddle they got from someone's family that "Grandpa rode in da wa". Literally any piece of CW trash can be sold on ebay for a premium if it was "dug at Gettysburg" (or for the cavalry experts) "Brandy Station". Most dealers know only enough about saddlery to be dangerous or blissfully ignorant enough to remain guilt free when they sell a piece of junk or mis-identified cheap junk item to a collector that desperately wants to buy something for nothing. Dealers and collectors still look at a rock and call it a diamond. People see what they want to see despite evidence to the contrary.
I suppose it is human nature.
- All too often I have been asked for an opinion, given an answer based upon sound reasoning, years of research, handling thousands of artifacts, etc., etc. and then being told I am full of *&%#$%. From this very scenario I have lost many friends (if they were to begin with) to the extent I studiously try to avoid these kind of entanglements or failing that, provide "non-answers". Sad but true.
My second book was "Made in the CSA, Saddle Makers of the Confederacy". It groups together a pile of information I could not put in the first book. Not as a “document dump” but to save these treasures for posterity. Great pieces of Confederate saddlery information, photos, etc. including details about various saddle makers and, most important to me personally, brief synopsis of each Confederate arsenal and depot. These men, places and factors are the un-sung heros of the un-known side of the war. That is, those that turned a virtually backward, agrarian economy that made almost nothing in 1861 into a powerful fighting machine of manufacture, ingenuity, innovation and ersatz production. Truly genius was needed to make this happen.
I might add that the central person for was none other than a "Yankee" Josiah Gorgas. If you are a Confederate author or even a simple student of the war I suggest that everyone MUST READ "Plough Shares in Swords" by the great author Frank Vandiver. It is the story of Josiah Gorgas and his Ordnance Department. The South would have lost the war and been a footnote of history in less than a year if it was not for him, his genius and his unbelievably talented people that he surrounded himself with. Truly amazing story of American will. A must read if you want to put the rest of the Confederate war in prospective.
OK, I have gone on long enough here and YUP, I got way off in OZ (sorry) but it has been kinda therapy for me. I feel better now. So, Eric Tipton do I owe you anything for this session?
BTW, If your really interested in knowing more about my books, feature articles etc. and not listen to me whining about all of this other dribble then please wander over to my web site...... www.confederatesaddles.com
PS: Question, comments or psychoanalysis welcomed.
Best,
Ken R Knopp
Comment