RALFE, James.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Naval Chronology of Great Britain; First edition, an attractive set with excellent contemporary hand-colouring. Many of the superb plates, second only to Jenkins's Naval Achievements (1816-17) as a visual source for naval engagements of the period, are from sketches by officers serving in the actions portrayed, among them Trafalgar, the bombardment of Algiers, and the capture of the Chesapeake.It was originally issued in 12 parts, available plain and coloured. Abbey remarks that "care should be taken when selecting a copy that one is not chosen where the plates have been coloured at a later period. It will be found that genuine coloured copies carry a number of inscriptions, 'From a sketch by…', or others similar, printed in blue. Copies that do not possess these are definitely late colouring". The present set has these blue printed captions. The text is watermarked 1818, and the plates are unwatermarked. The text, drawn from a range of official and other authoritative sources, was intended as an extension of Isaac Schomberg's Naval Chronology of 1802. The list of subscribers runs to 115 names.

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