Beschreibung:

Ɵ THORN, William. (1780 - 1843). Memoir of the Conquest of Java. T. Egerton, London, 1815. single volume, first edition, 4to., (308 x 257mm), modern quarter black leather over marbled boards, spine with raised bands bordered in gilt, spine lettered in gilt, complete, half-title, errata, 17 engraved maps (13 folding), 18 aquatint plates (4 folding), plate number 1, 'Map of Java' facing title page bound as 2 large folding sheets in present volume, some light offsetting throughout, occasional contemporary marginalia pencil marks and underlining throughout, most noticeably on list of plates page, and pages 14, 35, 51, and 100, plate no. 33 hand-coloured, plate no. 34 some contemporary pencil annotations and markings on map, plates no. 27 and 28 bound in reverse order according to the list of plates. First edition of William Thorn's important memoir of the 1811 conquest of Java, when possession of the island passed from the Dutch to the British Empire. Major Thorn, a Deputy Quarter Master General of the British Army at the time, describes the military expedition, as well as giving a general history and geographic survey of the island. Thorn's text contains the first depiction of the Taman Sari (Water Castle), a renowned architectural wonder built in 1758 by the Sultan of Jokjakarta. Many of the remaining aquatints show coastal towns of Java, as well as Batavia, one time capital of the Dutch East Indies that was taken over when power shifted to the British Empire. These engravings have been described to be in the style of Dutch artist Johannes Rach and his school. (1)