Chats on Military CuriosJohnson, Stanley C. (Stanley Currie)
History
Chats on Military Curios
Johnson, Stanley C. (Stanley Currie)
Military art and science
Ackermann's "Costumes of the British and Indian Armies," by various
artists. Some sixty odd coloured plates, dating from 1840. The plates
include not only the uniforms of the regular Army, but also the Indian
Army and the Volunteer Force. This is a very fine collection.
Cannon's "Historical Records of the British Army." A monumental work
in sixty-eight volumes, but the coloured plates are occasionally
found loose. The pictures are in two series: (_a_) Cavalry, and (_b_)
Infantry; they depict regimental dress of the period 1837-53.
W. Heath's "Military Costumes of the British Cavalry." A set of sixteen
coloured plates, of the year 1820.
E. Hull's "Costumes of the British Army in 1828." Some seventy odd
lithographs of fairly pleasing character. They appear to be drawn with
complete accuracy.
"Military Costumes of Europe." A work published in two volumes in 1822.
Nearly a hundred coloured plates are included, about a quarter of which
are of British uniforms.
Thomas Rowlandson's "Loyal Volunteers of London" (1799). A most
interesting work full of coloured plates showing the uniforms of the
non-regular units at the close of the eighteenth century. Students of
military dress should pay special attention to this interesting gallery
of pictures.
Lieutenant-Colonel Luard's "History of the Dress of the British
Soldier." Fifty uncoloured and not very attractive plates (1852). The
work contains much interesting matter in the letterpress, however, and
the plates, though plain, are useful to students of military dress.
Ralph Nevill's "British Military Prints" is of recent production. (_The
Connoisseur_ Publishing Co., 1909, 5s.). This work contains a sumptuous
array of coloured and uncoloured reproductions of old prints, many of
which are far more attractive than the originals. It is a book that the
student should undoubtedly possess.
* * * * *
So far, the prints of which we have spoken have all been of a serious
nature, but the period under consideration was marked by the rise of
two clever caricaturists, named Henry Bunbury and James Gillray, who
require some mention. The works of these two artists are but little
known, in spite of the fact that some authorities consider them equal
to any of the satirical efforts of the famous Hogarth. Bunbury and
Gillray are of interest to the collector of military prints because
many of their pictures dealt with soldiers and soldiering. We cannot
claim that the detail of the uniforms which figure in all the pictures
of these two artists are absolutely correct, but they certainly do not
display any glaring errors which are likely to mislead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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