RAY, James. A Compleat History of the Rebellion. From its first Rise in 1745, to its total Suppression at the glorious Battle of Culloden, in April 1746 … With a Summary of the Trails and Executions of the Rebel Lords, &c. [York:] Printed for the Author, in the Year 1755.
8vo. 20th-century full tan morocco with raised bands, retaining the original red morocco lettering-piece on spine; pp. 451, [1], engraved portrait-frontispiece of the Duke of Cumberland and two engraved battle-plans (one a a little cropped at lower margin), woodcut initial, head-, and tailpieces; a little toned internally, a good copy with initial and final blank, as part of the original binding.
Rare early edition (first, without date, Manchester 1747) of this pro-English account of the 1745 Jacobite Rising, and the rebels' decisive defeat by Government troops under the Duke of Cumberland.
The book went through nine editions up to 1760, all of which are scarce. "It remains a useful account of the campaign and of the state of feeling in England at this time" (ODNB). This victory was celebrated all over anti-Jacobean Britain and Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabaeus was written as a tribute to the Duke of Cumberland following the battle. The author, James Ray, was an English volunteer in the Hanoverian army and often a first-hand witness to the events he describes.
The woodcut ornaments in this edition are used by the printer John Jackson of York.
ESTC T123208
#2120131