London: Rudolph Ackermann, 1798-9. Thomas Rowlandson's Masterpiece of British Military Costume
The Finest Illustrated Record of the Loyal Volunteer Movement
A Superb Early Copy with the Plates Heightened in Gold and Silver
ROWLANDSON, Thomas. Loyal Volunteers of London & Environs, Infantry & Cavalry, in their respective Uniforms. Representing the whole of the Manual, Platoon, & Funeral Exercise in Eighty-Seven Plates. London: Rudolph Ackermann, [1798-1799].
First edition, early issue, with the plates heightened in gold and silver.
Large quarto (13 x 10 1/2 inches; 330 x 266 mm.). Hand-colored etched allegorical title-page and eighty-six magnificent hand-colored etched plates by and after Thomas Rowlandson, many beautifully heightened in gold and silver, with descriptive engraved text to each plate, list of subscribers, contents, and errata. Bound without the two subsequently issued supplementary plates ("Expedition or Military Fly" and "Sadler's Flying Artillery"), as is virtually always the case.
Contemporary full red straight-grain morocco, covers elaborately paneled in gilt, spine with five double raised bands richly gilt in compartments, gilt board edges and turn-ins. Expertly and almost invisibly rebacked to style.
A magnificent large copy with brilliant contemporary hand-coloring.
Far more than a military costume book, this is one of Thomas Rowlandson's supreme achievements as a color-plate artist. Combining dazzling uniforms, spirited horses, elegant compositions, and the artist's incomparable sense of movement, the work transcends costume illustration to become one of the great visual celebrations of Georgian Britain.
Published at the height of Britain's fears of a French invasion, the work records the remarkable volunteer movement that swept the country following the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France. Thousands of ordinary citizens -merchants, lawyers, tradesmen, bankers, and gentlemen - formed volunteer corps to defend the kingdom, creating one of the most extraordinary displays of patriotic enthusiasm in British history. Ackermann's ambitious publication was intended to commemorate that movement while simultaneously serving as an authoritative illustrated manual of drill, equipment, and uniform.
Rather than merely depicting military dress, Rowlandson transforms each plate into an independent work of art. Cavalrymen charge forward with sabres raised, horses rear and wheel with remarkable animation, infantrymen execute every stage of manual exercise with effortless precision, while the brilliant scarlets, deep blues, gleaming helmets, bearskins, and polished weapons create one of the most colorful military books ever produced. The finest early copies, including the present example, were additionally enriched with delicate applications of gold and silver, lending the uniforms and accoutrements a jewel-like brilliance rarely encountered today.
Although conceived as a practical record of London's volunteer regiments, the book has long been appreciated as one of Rowlandson's greatest engraved productions. The artist, best known for his comic satires and social caricatures, here demonstrates a remarkable command of military draughtsmanship without sacrificing the vitality that distinguishes all of his finest work. Every plate possesses the spontaneity, elegance, and fluidity that made Rowlandson one of Britain's greatest graphic artists.
The volume also occupies an important place in the history of Rudolph Ackermann's publishing career. Issued only a few years before his celebrated Microcosm of London and Repository of Arts, it established many of the production standards - superb hand-coloring, luxurious presentation, and artistic excellence - that would make Ackermann the greatest publisher of illustrated books in Regency England.
Ackermann himself recorded the urgency of the moment in his introduction: "The enemy had advanced their best regulated legions to the shores of the British Channel..." Against this threat, more than 12,000 Loyal Volunteers assembled before King George III in Hyde Park in June 1799. Rowlandson's magnificent plates preserve that extraordinary patriotic response with an immediacy unmatched by any contemporary publication.
The present copy belongs to the desirable early issue with the plates heightened in gold and silver. It is also unusually large, exceeding even Abbey's celebrated copy in size. The supplementary plates Expedition or Military Fly and Sadler's Flying Artillery were published after the volume had already been issued and are therefore absent, as in virtually every contemporary copy.
One of the masterpieces of British color-plate book illustration and unquestionably among the greatest military costume books ever published.
References: Abbey, Life 379; Prideaux, p. 350; Bobins II, 385; Tooley 416; Colas 2586; Ogilby 778.
