The Battle of Waterloo. Taken on the spot after Action of the 18th June 1815. Presented & Dedicated with permission to HRH the Duke of York. This item is unavailable.The Battle of Waterloo. Taken on the spot after Action of the 18th June 1815. Presented & Dedicated with permission to HRH the Duke of York

First edition. A beautiful copy of this battle chart / map of the Battle of Waterloo. Created by Lt Tyler, and published on August 1st 1815, only 43 days after the battle itself. For the British public, this was the first chance they had to see the scene of the famous victory. In excellent condition, with barely any edgewear. A touch of darkening only, but the hand coloured illustration is still clean and bright. The only example currently available (at the time of cataloguing), and one of the finest examples still in existence. It depicts the area of Belgium from Brussels south to the Sambre River, and shows the French, Prussian and Anglo-Allied armies that fought in this area on the 15th–18th June 1815.Veterans of Napoleon’s European campaigns flocked to his banner after his escape from Elba in early 1815. By contrast, many of Wellington’s most experienced soldiers were on the other side of the Atlantic. The armies met at Waterloo, ‘a near run thing’. This rare broadsheet map was made by an officer who was probably not actually on the field with the army, as he was with the 2nd Garrison Battalion, which was posted in England, and rushed into print soon afterwards. The news sheet map was the 19th century equivalent of a television news bulletin 470 by 295mm (18½ by 11½ inches). Blank to verso. .…