Beschreibung:

British Military Library; or, Journal: comprehending a complete body of military knowledge . London: J. Rider for R. Phillips 1799-1801 [1801-1804]. Rare periodical, with fine hand-coloured plates of uniforms, designed for keeping readers informed of the latest in military advances and knowledge. Established when Europe was in the midst of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the title acknowledges that the contents include selections from ‘foreign military publications’, and give accounts of conflicts such as the 1799 Battle of Alkmaar, fought between Anglo-Russian and Gallo-Batavian armies in north Holland, strategic advice on how to hold a bridge, and maps of battlefields. Particularly relevant to the tactics of the British infantry is an analysis of ‘the square’. The hand-coloured plates illustrate the uniforms of the period. Colas 450; Tooley 112. 2 volumes, all published, quarto (265 x 210mm), comprising numbers 1-30, engraved frontispiece and 75 plates, battle-plans and maps on 72 sheets, of which 28 fully coloured by a contemporary hand and occasionally heightened with gilt and a further 6 partially hand-coloured, and some 16 folding, tissue-guards (leaves E2-4 with very small marginal holes affecting one page number, a few leaves creased at gutter at end of vol.I, title to vol. II loose and creased, a few other leaves at beginning of vol.II lightly creased, small marginal chip to folding plate opposite II, p.562 with small loss to image, folding maps of Sligo and of Salzburg with marginal creasing, a few plates cropped close just into engraved image). Contemporary diced half russia (extremities rubbed, spines more heavily and faded). Provenance : Lieutenant-General Dunne – Gloucester (bookplate). Sold as a periodical, not subject to return.