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Small 8vo, pp [8], 96, with an engraved frontispiece, and 60 [of 61] plates, lacking plate 6 depicting a naval engagement, including 4 folding, bound in contemporary calf, spine with raised bands and red label, boards lower joint cracked and internally reinforced, the upper joint broken and repaired, endpapers preserved, plate one with short tear and old repair, no loss, plate 5 with small loss to blank corner else clean and tight throughout internally, a good copy overall with a single plate missing, FIRST EDITION; the return of William III to the Hague in 1691 was commemorated widely in Holland and with the various ceremonial arches and public statues erected here represented in 62 plates [ only 61 in this copy, as ESTC reprots, although plate 6 is certainly missing]. According to the title page this 'elaborate piece of curiosity' - a pocket commemoration of William's victories over the French in the Nine Years War [ such as they were] was issued first in Dutch, then French and finally English, no translator but with dedication to the Queen signed by J Beek. This little book with its beautifully elaborate illustrations in the Baroque style is exceedingly scarce and frequently found incomplete; indeed this is one of the best and cleanest copies we have traced; it is also the APPULDURCOMBE COPY, with the later distinctive APP book label and signature of Sir Robert Worsley [1669-1747] to the front pastedown. It is appropriate then to find this book in the library of a man who began building Appuldurcombe House in 1702 on Baroque lines as designed by himself. Some of Worsley's original designs can be found online signed with exactly the signature in this book, and it seems likely that the 3rd Baronet took design ideas for his new house interior from books such as this. Although no longer at its best, earlier images of the interior, if they exist, might substantiate this. Seller Inventory # 29520
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