Report on the Arrangements which were made, for the Internal Defence of these Kingdoms, when Spain, by Its Armada, Projected the Invasion and Conquest of England.

£750 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

Addressed in MS to Henry Dundas (1742-1811), Viscount Melville, then Secretary of State for War, who had commissioned the work . This is a particularly satisfying association as John Bruce (1744-1826) had tutored Dundas’s son, Robert, and accompanied him on a continental tour in 1786-7. Dundas continued to employ him and in 1793 secured his appointment as historiographer to the East India Company. Page [1] has the MS address “State Paper Office | May 17th. 1798.” and “Sir.-” at the head and page 97 is subscribed in MS “I have the honor to be Sir your most obedient and faithful Servant, John Bru[ce (cropped)] | Right Honble Henry Dundas c, c, c.” Although widely held in libraries, only two appear on Rare Book Hub (sold in 1979 and 2015). Many copies, if not all, have the same MS address on p. [1], the same subscription on p. 97 and the same MS corrections. Written at the height of fears of a French invasion of England, this work was privately printed for the use of government ministers and includes a folding engraved map of the Thames in 1588 that had previously been engraved by John Pine in 1738. Commencing with a historical overview, it then details the “Measures, classed in order of the Subject, which were adopted by Queen Elizabeth, for the Defence of Her Kingdom” including external alliances, instructions for internal defence, military arrangement and naval equipment. This is followed by discussions of the effects of these measures and then the results. Bruce’s correction

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