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The ''Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant'' is an autobiography of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States, focused mainly on his military career during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. Written as Grant was dying of cancer in 1885, the two-volume set was published by Mark Twain shortly after Grant's death. Twain created a unique marketing system designed to reach millions of veterans with a patriotic appeal just as Grant's death was being mourned. Ten thousand agents canvassed the North, following a script Twain had devised; many were themselves veterans who dressed in their old uniforms. They sold 350,000 two-volume sets at prices from $3.50 to $12 (depending on the binding). Each copy contained what looked like a handwritten note from Grant himself. In the end, Grant's widow Julia received about $450,000, suggesting a gross royalty before expenses of about 30%.〔Miller, Craig E. "'Give the Book to Clemens'," ''American History'', April 1999, Vol. 34, Issue 1〕〔see also (''Booknotes'' interview with Mark Perry on ''Grant and Twain: The Story of a Friendship That Changed America'', July 18, 2004. )〕 The ''Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant'' has been highly regarded by the general public, military historians〔Rafuse, Ethan Sepp. "Still a Mystery? General Grant and the Historians, 1981–2006," ''Journal of Military History'', (July 2007) vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 849–874 (in Project MUSE )〕 and literary critics.〔Wilson, Edmund. ''Patriotic Gore: Studies in the Literature of the American Civil War'', (1962) pp. 131–173.〕 Positive attention is often directed toward Grant's prose, which has been praised as shrewd, intelligent, and effective. He portrayed himself in the persona of the honorable Western hero, whose strength lies in his honesty and straightforwardness. He candidly depicts his battles against both the external Confederates and his internal Army foes.〔Russell, Henry M. W. "The memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant: The rhetoric of judgment," '' Virginia Quarterly Review'', (Spring 1990) vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 189–209.〕 As of August 2015, the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and Museum located at Mississippi State University is in the process of creating an annotated print edition of the memoirs. Under the management of the Executive Director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association John F. Marszalek, the project aims to reinvigorate interest in the memoirs by contextualizing it for the modern reader.〔 http://digital.library.msstate.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/USG_volume 〕 ==Background== After finishing his second term in office in 1877, Grant and his wife Julia took a trip around the world which left him short on money. Nearly 60, the ex-president looked for something to engage his time. He ran for the Republican nomination for president in 1880, but lost to James Garfield. The next year, Grant moved to New York City to go into business with his son, Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., and a young investor, Ferdinand Ward, described by his great-grandson Geoffrey Ward as "a very plausible, charming, unobtrusive, slender person with a genius for finding older people and pleasing them, which he learned early on."〔(Transcript ) of PBS biography of Grant〕 The firm of Grant & Ward did well at first, bolstered by Ward's skills and Grant's name. The former president bragged to friends that he was worth two and a half million dollars, and family members and friends poured money into the firm. But Grant was largely disengaged from the company's business, often signing papers without reading them.〔 This proved disastrous, as Ward had used the firm as a Ponzi scheme, taking investors' money and spending it on personal items, including a mansion in Connecticut and a brownstone in New York City. Grant & Ward failed in May 1884, leaving Grant penniless. That fall, the former president was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer. Facing his mortality, Grant struck a publishing deal with his friend Mark Twain and began working on his memoirs, hoping they would provide for his family after his death. In the early stages of his work, Grant had the assistance of Adam Badeau, an author who had served on Grant's staff during the war. Badeau left before the project was complete, having disputed with Grant and his family how much Badeau would be paid and how he would be credited for his research editing and fact checking. After Grant's death, Badeau settled with Grant's heirs for $10,000, or about $250,000 in 2012 dollars.〔''New York Times'', ("Gen. Badeau's Suit Ended" ), October 31, 1888〕 Grant suffered greatly in his final year. He was in constant pain from his illness and sometimes had the feeling he was choking. Despite his condition, he wrote at a furious pace, sometimes finishing 25 to 50 pages a day.〔 In June 1885, as the cancer spread through his body, the family moved to Mount MacGregor, New York, to make Grant more comfortable. Propped up on chairs, and too weak to walk, Grant worked to finish the book. Friends, admirers and even a few former Confederate opponents made their way to Mount MacGregor to pay their respects. Grant finished the manuscript on July 18; he died five days later. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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