Beschreibung:

An extra-illustrated first edition Charles Tomkins 1799 TOMKINS, Charles (1757-1823). The British Volunteer: or, A General History of the Formation and Establishment of the Volunteer and Associated Corps, enrolled for the Protection and Defence of Great Britain. London: T. Egerton [et al.]; printed by C. Whittingham, 1799. An extra-illustrated first edition of a very rare work. Organized to defend Britain against Napoleonic invasion, this short-lived volunteer army (1794-1805) consisted of 300,000 members at its peak. The present publication closely followed Prime Minister Pitt’s 1798 appeal for more volunteers in the face of the threat posed by Napoleon. This is probably an association copy, with the signature of “J. [?] Le Mesurier” on the front flyleaf, also in pencil on title-page. Colonel Paul le Mesurier (1755-1805), officer of the Honourable Artillery Company, is depicted in the first portrait plate, and his name is asterisked in pencil on p. 5. This copy includes all six aquatint portraits, without the two supplemental prints apparently issued separately, but extra-illustrated with five plates of tactical diagrams and one folding map. Index to British Military Costume Prints 911; not in Abbey, Colas or Tooley. Large quarto (290 x 230mm). 12 engraved plates, comprising 6 colored aquatints of full-length portraits with tissue guards, 5 hand-colored "Tactics Plates" of which 2 are folding, and 1 hand-colored folding map of the United Provinces (map with long repaired closed tear). Contemporary mottled sheep with gilt trim and gilt filets (rebacked with original spine laid down). Provenance: Le Mesurier (flyleaf inscription and pencil annotation on title-page).