A History of the Late Siege of Gibraltar. With a Description and Account of that Garrison, From the Earliest Periods. By John Drinkwater, Captain In The Late Seventy-Second Regiment, or Royal Manchester Volunteers.....
London: T. Spilsbury and Son. Snowhill (printers), 1790. Quarto. Item #027564
4th edition. XXIV, 356 pages, maps and subscriber's list. Complete with ten hand colored large fold-out maps, charts and views, as listed on page x 'Directions for Placing the Plates'. [subtitle continues: And an Honorary Member of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester.] The list of subscribers first mentions those who were officers at the siege, then continues with the leading men in England from royalty, parliament, barristers, church leaders and scholars. The siege is a vital part of Gibraltar's history. It established a place in the British mystique of the unmovable fortress often translated into "There will always be an England". The beauty and quality of this book matches its detail and accuracy for both scholar and collector. After the capture of Gibraltar by the Anglo-Dutch forces in 1704, the territory was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Though Spain has repeatedly tried to force through negotiations of its return, it occupies a major place in the example of British history. A lovely copy bound in a modern full leather, boards elaboratley framed in gilt, raised bands with compartments fully gilt decorated, red leather label gilt. A light damp stain is visible at the top of the inner margin of pages xvi and xvii. p. 204 has an old repair in the margin, a few early repairs to some of the plates which were superbly done, house in cloth covered slipcase. [ESTC: T134653].
Price: $1,050.00