MILES, Edmund. An Epitome, Historical and Statistical, Descriptive of the Royal Naval Service of England. London: Ackermann and Company. 1841.
8vo. Later vellum-backed blue cloth, spine ornamented in gilt and with black morocco lettering-piece, top edge gilt; pp. xii, [2], 184, [2], 14 (publisher's catalogue), 8 hand-coloured aquatint plates with cationed tissue guards, 14 hand-coloured wood-engraved flags in the text; very light spotting to cloth, occasional light offsetting from plates, otherwise a very good copy with engraved armorial bookplate of Robert Laycock inside front cover.
First edition of a finely produced and illustrated book on the Royal Navy at a relatively peaceful period in British history. The charming illustrations were engraved by Newton Smith Fielding after William Adolphus Knell. Knell had originally worked in "the popular Dutch seventeenth-century marine style, … in mid-career he shifted to an English manner to maintain his share of the market. The results were lighter and less heavy-handed pictures marked by translucent seas and broader handling in the skies. He specialized in inshore scenes of England, France, and the Low Countries" (ODNB).
Abbey, 339.
SKU: 2111888