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ORME, Edward (1775-1848) publisher
The Battles of the British Army [With:] — [Naval Valour] [And:] — [Annals of the Regency]. London: Edward Orme 1815 [and 1817].
Extremely rare patriotic souvenirs illustrating the naval and army victories of Britain and the chief architectural achievements during the Regency period. Each suite of circular plates are housed within bronze medallions, two embossed with the image of Admiral Lord Nelson on the front lid and image of Britannia on the reverse, the third with the bust of the Duke of Wellington adorning the front cover and an image of History writing down on a scroll the ‘Record of British Valour’ on the back lid. The two military suites celebrate some of Britain’s most iconic victories including the Battle of Waterloo, Battle of the Nile and Storming of Algiers. Recorded in minute detail, Lord Nelson can be seen brandishing his sword, whilst Wellington is depicted in his famous military costume riding into battle on a rearing horse; these plates, despite their miniature size, capturing the victories of Britain in a highly patriotic and celebratory fashion. Much rarer still is the third suite, Annals of the Regency which was issued to commemorate the visit to London of Duke Nicholas, future Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. Each of the views depict different architectural innovations in London, which, as the descriptive letterpress on the plate ‘Waterloo Palace’ asserts, were all sites that the future Tsar was to visit during his trip. All three of these remarkable sets were published by Edward Orme a British engraver and publisher, who in 1815 held the role of print seller in ordinary to King George III (1760-1820); a position he would retain into the reign of King George IV (120-130). Indeed, these present works are very much in keeping with the patriotic and royal themes that much of Orme’s output tended towards and beautifully capture the splendour and power of the Regency period.
Three sets of circular aquatint plates, all coloured by a contemporary hand and with letterpress explanatory text pasted to versos, housed within bronze containers in the form of medallions (diameter 75mm), comprising: The Battles of the British Army, 13 hand-coloured aquatints, with two engraved title pages pasted to inside of bronze lids (the whole loose, concertina folds split without loss, scattered staining to text, most heavily affecting plate titled ‘Battle of Busaco’); Navel Valour, 12 hand-coloured aquatints, joined in concertina form, with engraved compasses pasted to inside of bronze lids; Annals of the Regency with 12 hand-coloured aquatints, with engraved compass pasted to inside of bottom bronze lid (the whole loose, concertina folds split without loss, crease to ‘Regency Park’) All housed within modern custom brown cloth clamshell box with red felt interior. Abbey Life 466 and 469; Bobins II and IV, 376, 377 and 1458.
Special notice
This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.