ABERCROMBY, James, first Baron Dunfermline.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby. First and sole edition. A very smart copy, bound expressly for General Sir Reginald Wingate, at the expense of George, fourth Baron Abercromby, with an autograph letter signed presenting this copy and commenting that Sir Ralph was Wingate's "predecessor in Egypt" and "a soldier whom I know you admire". An apt and appealing provenance.For a century and a half this biography by Abercromby's son, covering the years 1793-1801, was the only memoir of Sir Ralph, "a popular, well-known commander who became something of a father figure within the British army. His heroic death, like that of his most famous subordinate, John Moore, who fell at Corunna in 1809, caught the British public's imagination and inspired many an artist" (ODNB).Educated for the law in Edinburgh and Leipzig, Abercromby chose instead a military career and purchased a commission into a cavalry regiment in 1756. He served in Germany during the Seven Years War, the ill-fated Flanders campaign - at the conclusion of which he was "hailed as Britain's greatest general" (ibid.) - the West Indies, Puerto Rico, the Helder, and Egypt. His well-rehearsed amphibious assault at Abu Qir Bay in March 1801 "ran like clockwork" (ibid.) and he inflicted a stinging defeat on French forces. However, "either because of his not inconsiderable courage, his severe short-sightedness, or both he had strayed dangerously close to the enemy" and was hit by a musket ball in the thigh. When evacuated to

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