Wellesley Gerald John Steegmann (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. The boards show light wear, general scuffing to the edges, corners, faces and spine. A faint scratch to the front face and faint fade spots to both faces and spine. The leaves are tight and the pages clean with occasional faint foxing. Moderate foxing to the end papers and frontispiece tissue. Light dirt to the text block edges, including the gilt top. The book has a very slight forward lean from the bottom. Overall, a solid and generally clean copy, probably closer to very good than good.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. First Edition. Original light brown buckram boards with insignia in gilt on front and title in gilt on spine. First edition. Fine condition. Top edge gilt. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister. "The talent of six nations concentrated on that noble head for forty years," writes Philip Guedalla in his introduction. Mini-biographies of the artists comprise the majority of the book, followed by a narrative, black-and-white plates, and an index of owners. Laid in is a handwritten list of linens at the Duke's Walmer Castle in August 1839. Pieces of sealing wax are still present on the paper's edges. Also laid in is a letter from Lord Chamberlain's office pertaining to a watercolor by Ensign Robert Dighton. 4to. 78 pp. plus plates. A handsome copy of a hard-to-find title. From the estate of Donald G. Skinner, Canadian military collector extraordinaire.