Historical Account of the Campaign in the Netherlands, in 1815, An
London: Henry Colburn, 1817. Item #05555
The Fall of Napoleon and the Triumph at Waterloo
Twenty-Eight Superb Hand-Colored Aquatint Plates - Four by George Cruikshank
[CRUIKSHANK, George, illustrator]. MUDFORD, William. An Historical Account of the Campaign in the Netherlands, in 1815, Under His Grace the Duke of Wellington, and Marshall Prince Blucher. Comprising the Battles of Ligny, Quatre Bras, and Waterloo; with a Detailed Narrative of the Political Events connected with Those Memorable Conflicts Down to the Surrender of Paris and the Departure of Bonaparte for St. Helena… Embellished with a Series of Plates, descriptive of the country between Brussels and Charleroi, from Drawings made on the Spot by James Rouse, Esq. Also a Plan of the Battles, and a Map, shewing the March of the Allied Armies to Paris. London: Printed for Henry Colburn, 1817.
First edition of this magnificent contemporary illustrated account of the Waterloo campaign, Napoleon's final defeat, and the victorious advance of the Allied armies upon Paris.
Large quarto (12 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches; 324 x 273 mm.). [iii]-xviii, [2, list of plates, errata and directions to the binder], [1]-368 pp. Twenty-eight superb hand-colored aquatint plates, including the hand-colored pictorial title, frontispiece portraits of the Allied generals, and the magnificent large folding panorama of the Battle of Waterloo. Folding map, Brussels to Paris, and folding Plan of the Battles of Ligny, Quatre Bras & Waterloo, the latter printed in black, green and red. All plates with the original tissue guards. Plates watermarked “J. Whatman 1818.”
Contemporary full dark blue straight-grain morocco, covers bordered in gilt, smooth spine ruled and lettered in gilt in compartments. With the armorial bookplate of Delapré Abbey and that of Adrian W. Flühmann on the front pastedown. Apart from some light marginal foxing to a few text leaves, a superb example with exceptionally fresh and brilliant contemporary hand-coloring.
One of the finest illustrated contemporary records of the Waterloo campaign. Published scarcely two years after the battle, Mudford's narrative follows the dramatic events from Napoleon's return to power through Ligny and Quatre Bras to the decisive engagement at Waterloo, the Allied occupation of Paris, Napoleon's surrender, and his departure for exile on St. Helena. The outstanding feature of the work is its remarkable suite of aquatints recording the actual terrain over which the campaign was fought. James Rouse's views include Brussels and the Forêt de Soignes, Waterloo and Wellington's headquarters, Mont St. Jean, La Haye Sainte, La Belle Alliance, Hougoumont, Genappe, Quatre Bras and Ligny. The immediacy of these views derives in considerable part from their having been based upon drawings made on the spot shortly after the campaign. Rouse was responsible for most of the topographical plates, while C.C. Hamilton supplied drawings for several of the later views.
George Cruikshank's Contribution: Of particular importance are the four major compositions drawn and etched by George Cruikshank: the elaborate pictorial title; Portraits of the General Officers; the spectacular folding Battle of Waterloo; and The Flight of Bonaparte from the Field of Waterloo accompanied by his Guide. James Rouse engraved or aquatinted the finished plates. Contemporary bibliographical records likewise identify four plates as Cruikshank's work.
According to Cohn, Cruikshank was additionally responsible for the figures appearing in the other plates.
The great folding panorama, The Battle of Waterloo, is especially important. It was described as having been delineated under the inspection of officers who had been present at the battle, lending the image an unusual claim to contemporary eyewitness authority. Your photographs show it to be particularly impressive, with exceptionally vivid coloring and a remarkable sense of the smoke, confusion and massed troops of the battlefield.
There is a long-standing bibliographical complication concerning the frontispiece.
Abbey notes that some copies contain the plate Waterloo, in Memory of the Heroic Deeds of Shaw of the 1st Life Guards, whereas others - including the present copy - contain Portraits of the General Officers. Abbey specifically states that copies were not issued with both and that there appears to be no evidence establishing priority between them.
The bibliographical authorities differ slightly in the way they enumerate the illustrations. Cohn, Reid and Douglas call for thirty plates when the engraved title and two maps are included, while Tooley records thirty-one by including the additional Shaw plate. The present copy conforms to the recognized issue with Portraits of the General Officers.
Abbey, Life, 372; Cohn 580; Prideaux, pp. 310, 345; Tooley 336.
Price: $4,500.00