Battles of the British Army in Portugal, Spain and France from the year 1808 to 1814, The
London: Edward Orme, 1815. Item #06735
Edward Orme's Extraordinary Bronze Medallion Libraries of British Military and Naval Glory
Two Complete Series of Twenty-Five Contemporary Hand-Colored Aquatints
Preserved in Their Original Commemorative Bronze Medallions
ORME, Edward. The Battles of the British Army in Portugal, Spain and France, From the Year 1808 to 1814. Under the Command of England's Great Captain Arthur Duke of Wellington. London: Edward Orme, 1815. Together with:
Record of Naval Valour. London: Edward Orme, [1817].
First editions. Two original cast bronze commemorative medallions, each measuring approximately 3 inches (75 mm.) in diameter, containing complete suites of contemporary hand-colored circular aquatints.
The Battles of the British Army housed in its original bronze medallion, the obverse embossed with the profile of Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, the reverse depicting the figure of History inscribing upon a scroll the "Record of British Valour." Complete with thirteen circular hand-colored aquatints, each measuring approximately 2 11/16 inches (68 mm.) in diameter, all loose as issued with descriptive letterpress on the versos, together with the engraved title mounted inside the lid.
Record of Naval Valour housed in its original bronze medallion, the obverse embossed with the profile of Admiral Lord Nelson, the reverse depicting Britannia with the inscription "Record of Naval Valour. Every Man has done his Duty." Complete with twelve contemporary hand-colored circular aquatints, each accompanied by descriptive letterpress on the verso, together with two engraved compass roundels mounted inside the lid.
One plate from The Battles with a few light spots, the sixth plate with a small loss to the printed text on the verso, occasional light soiling, otherwise an exceptionally well-preserved pair.
One of the most ingenious and attractive patriotic publications produced during the closing years of the Napoleonic Wars. Rather than issuing conventional portfolios of prints, Edward Orme - Printseller in Ordinary to King George III - conceived these remarkable miniature libraries as complete series of circular hand-colored aquatints housed within finely cast bronze commemorative medallions. Combining sculpture, medallic art, topography, military history, and aquatint engraving, they stand among the most original productions of the British color-plate period.
The Battles of the British Army commemorates the principal victories of Sir Arthur Wellesley's Peninsular campaigns and Waterloo, the thirteen roundels depicting Vimiero, Oporto (Passage of the Douro), Talavera, Busaco, Albuera, Badajoz, Salamanca, Ciudad Rodrigo, Vittoria, Pampeluna, St. Sebastian, Toulouse, and Waterloo. The second plate illustrates Wellesley's celebrated crossing of the River Douro on 12 May 1809. Its title varies between surviving copies: Abbey records the subject as Oporto, while other examples are captioned Passage of the Douro.
The companion Record of Naval Valour celebrates the greatest triumphs of the Royal Navy from the victories of Lord Rodney and Lord Howe through the Nile, Copenhagen, Trafalgar, the capture of the Chesapeake, Bonaparte aboard the Northumberland, and the bombardment of Algiers, each scene accompanied by an explanatory letterpress description on the reverse.
Complete examples preserved in their original bronze medallions are of exceptional rarity. For The Battles of the British Army, OCLC records only one example preserved in its original bronze medallion, at Brown University Library, while examples at the Morgan Library & Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago likewise lack their original cases.
OCLC records only a single institutional example of Record of Naval Valour retained in its original bronze medallion, at Yale University Library; additional institutional copies at the Morgan Library & Museum survive without their original containers.
The present pair, retaining both original bronze medallions together with their complete complement of twenty-five contemporary hand-colored aquatints, descriptive letterpress versos, engraved title, and engraved compass inserts, represents an extraordinarily rare survival of one of Edward Orme's most inventive publications. Intended to commemorate Britain's naval and military supremacy at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, these ingenious medallic portfolios were inherently fragile objects and were frequently broken up or deprived of their original containers.
Complete pairs in their original medallions are today of the utmost rarity.
References: Abbey, Life, 466 & 469.
Price: $4,500.00