Sold Out!

This first edition reprint of the Rev. Randolph McKim's sermon titled, LEE THE CHRISTIAN HERO, sold out in about an hour at Lexington's Lee-Jackson Day festivities on 13 January. This sermon was originally delivered at R. E. Lee Memorial Church in Lexington on 20 January 1907 in celebration of Lee's 100th birthday. The original, rare printed copy was published by Brentano's of Washington, D.C. The Reverend Dr. Randolph H. McKim was a Confederate Staff Officer, Chaplain and Episcopalian Minister. Many thanks to fellow blogger and author, Michael Aubrecht, for his pro bono design and formatting work on this project.

After the war, McKim served a number of distinguished churches as rector: St. John’s in Portsmouth, VA (1866-67), Christ Church in Alexandria, VA – the same church which both Robert E. Lee and George Washington attended – (1867-75), Holy Trinity in New York City (1875-86), TrinityChurch in New Orleans, LA (1886-88), and Church of the Epiphany in Washington, D.C., (1888-1920).

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the 100 copies of the booklet went to the Stonewall Jackson Brigade SCV Camp's Lee Chapel fund which was established to fund commemorative functions at Lee Chapel and for the restoration and maintenance of the original organ at the chapel. South River Books is now having a second special limited edition of 200 copies printed commemorating Lee's 200th birthday. These will be numbered and will include a short sketch of McKim. The first 50 copies will be offered exclusively through Lee Chapel's Museum Shop.

(I realize that most of my posts of late have focused on Robert E. Lee. This focus will continue through this month, and, to a lesser extent, through 19 January 2008. This is, after all, "The Year of Lee." Besides, I'm in the process of gathering research materials for a book about Lee that will explore an aspect of Lee's life that I do not believe has received the attention it deserves. Some of my posts are an overflow of that process.)