The period 1750-1860—Works including military prints—Where to search for bargains—The kind of print most sought after—Works including fine military prints—Bunbury—Gillray

In the following notes we do not propose to go deeply into the lore of print collecting, as the matter is too involved for treatment in these pages, and also because such admirable books as "Chats on Old Prints," by Arthur Hayden, already cover the ground. Here we propose to talk of military prints as they affect the general collector of military curios.

Printed pictures of soldiers and soldiery are to be found dating back almost to the days of Caxton, but those coming within the period 1750-1860 seem to be the most interesting. Probably this is due, in the main, to three reasons. First, the period was one of much military unrest, and people's interests were largely centred on the army. Secondly, the costumes of the various regiments were attractive and showy, and lent themselves to pictorial treatment. And thirdly, the art of printing had reached a stage when reproductions were no longer so expensive as to be almost prohibitive in price.

Most of the prints which we have seen of this period were originally published as illustrations to books, a good number were issued as sets in portfolios, whilst a few were sold separately. The books which contain these military pictures, especially when the latter are coloured, fetch high prices, but fortunately the collector can become conversant with these gems of the printer's art in such treasure-houses as the British Museum and the South Kensington Museum. Those of us who can afford to buy perfect copies of such illustrated works will find admirable collections for sale at Messrs. Maggs Brothers, in the Strand; Messrs. Robson & Co., in Coventry Street, W.C.; and Messrs. Henry Sotheran & Co., in Piccadilly.

But though these works, illustrated with military prints, are costly, the collector of moderate means may gather together quite an extensive collection of the pictures, torn from the complete works, at no great outlay. It may seem surprising to all of us who are curio-lovers but it is a fact that there are still people who are so ignorant of the value of books and pictures that they will snatch out the illustrations from priceless volumes and sell the former for a few coppers, throwing away the letterpress. Only the other day we were talking with a friendly collector who showed us a batch of Ackermann's coloured plates which he had obtained for a few pence each, although the actual value was, at the least, half a guinea per copy.

The collector, therefore, must be on the look-out for bargains of this nature; he will find them in the portfolios which usually encumber the doorways of the second-hand booksellers in Charing Cross Road, Praed Street, Museum Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, and the stalls along Farringdon Road. In these interesting quarries he will assuredly make discoveries from time to time; so he will if he keeps an eye on establishments of a similar nature in the outskirts of London.

A few general words on the value of military prints may be of interest. Those which depict types of soldiers are generally more sought after than those representing battle scenes; those of noted commanders are, of course, valuable, but representations of little-known commanders, wearing perhaps court rather than military dress, are not in much demand. Pictures in which soldiers play a minor part are also of little interest to the collector of military curios, as there is always a possibility that the uniforms have been drawn more with the idea of being picturesque than accurate. Machine-coloured pictures are, of course, highly treasured, as they give a much better idea of the uniforms than do monochromes. When hand-coloured there is no guarantee of correct impression; in fact such pictures are often glaringly misleading.

Having made these preliminary remarks, it may be well to point out some of the best-known works containing military prints.

"The British Military Library," published not later than 1801, in two volumes, contains some score or more of accurately drawn plates representing types of the British Army. They are well executed, though the figures appear a trifle stiff and wooden.

Spooner's "Military and Naval Uniforms," by Mansion and Eschauzier, seventy plates in colour, dating from 1833. These are probably some of the finest representations of early nineteenth-century uniforms that the collector can possess. The dresses are accurately depicted, but the artists do not excel when drawing galloping horses.

Ackermann's "Costumes of the British and Indian Armies," by various artists. Some sixty odd coloured plates, dating from 1840. The plates include not only the uniforms of the regular Army, but also the Indian Army and the Volunteer Force. This is a very fine collection.

Cannon's "Historical Records of the British Army." A monumental work in sixty-eight volumes, but the coloured plates are occasionally found loose. The pictures are in two series: (a) Cavalry, and (b) Infantry; they depict regimental dress of the period 1837-53.

W. Heath's "Military Costumes of the British Cavalry." A set of sixteen coloured plates, of the year 1820.

E. Hull's "Costumes of the British Army in 1828." Some seventy odd lithographs of fairly pleasing character. They appear to be drawn with complete accuracy.

"Military Costumes of Europe." A work published in two volumes in 1822. Nearly a hundred coloured plates are included, about a quarter of which are of British uniforms.

Thomas Rowlandson's "Loyal Volunteers of London" (1799). A most interesting work full of coloured plates showing the uniforms of the non-regular units at the close of the eighteenth century. Students of military dress should pay special attention to this interesting gallery of pictures.

Lieutenant-Colonel Luard's "History of the Dress of the British Soldier." Fifty uncoloured and not very attractive plates (1852). The work contains much interesting matter in the letterpress, however, and the plates, though plain, are useful to students of military dress.

Ralph Nevill's "British Military Prints" is of recent production. (The Connoisseur Publishing Co., 1909, 5s.). This work contains a sumptuous array of coloured and uncoloured reproductions of old prints, many of which are far more attractive than the originals. It is a book that the student should undoubtedly possess.

So far, the prints of which we have spoken have all been of a serious nature, but the period under consideration was marked by the rise of two clever caricaturists, named Henry Bunbury and James Gillray, who require some mention. The works of these two artists are but little known, in spite of the fact that some authorities consider them equal to any of the satirical efforts of the famous Hogarth. Bunbury and Gillray are of interest to the collector of military prints because many of their pictures dealt with soldiers and soldiering. We cannot claim that the detail of the uniforms which figure in all the pictures of these two artists are absolutely correct, but they certainly do not display any glaring errors which are likely to mislead.

Bunbury was a friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds and also of Hoppner, he thus moved in the artists' circle of the day. "During the time he was living in Suffolk, he was prominently associated with the County Militia; and no doubt it was at this period that ideas for humorous military sketches presented themselves. 'The Militia Meeting,' 'Recruits,' and 'The Deserter' may be mentioned among these, while a story is told in connection with another sketch that is characteristic of Bunbury's readiness with his pencil. A young private of his regiment applied for a pass in order to visit the lady of his affections. The application having come before Mr. Bunbury, he not only signed the pass, but drew a comical sketch on the permit, representing the meeting of the amorous couple, to the great amusement of the officers to whom the pass was presented.

"In 1778, political relations between England and America were very strained, in consequence of which militia camps were formed in various parts of the country. Henry Bunbury, as an officer of the Suffolk Militia, was ordered to join his camp at Coxheath. All sorts of caricatures from all sorts of pencils (most of them anonymous) satirize the military mania of the time. Naturally Bunbury was not behind the rest, and many sketches of a military character, evidently drawn by him at this time, are still in existence. Bunbury's wonderful talent in making these sketches of a martial kind appears to have been recognized at the time, for an exhibition of his military drawings was organized in 1788 and held at Somerset House."[18]

Gillray, the second artist mentioned above, was the son of a soldier who fought at Fontenoy, and thus his thoughts were constantly turned to military subjects. Though his satirical drawings dealt with the various topics of the day—his works were published between 1777 and 1815—he seems to have lost no opportunity of showing his spleen for the French, and Napoleon in particular. We have a long list of such artistic effusions of which the following may be mentioned:

1. Fighting for the Dunghill: or Jack Tar settling Citoyen FranÇois.

2. Buonaparte, hearing of Nelson's victory, swears by his sword to extirpate the English from off the Earth.

3. General result of Buonaparte's attack upon Ibrahim Bey's Rear Guard.

4. Britannia between Death and the Doctor.

5. The Surrender of Ulm: or Buonaparte and General Mack coming to a right understanding.

6. The New Dynasty: or the little Corsican gardener planting a royal pippin-tree.

7. Apotheosis of the Corsican Phoenix.

In the foregoing, we have merely touched upon the subject of collecting military prints, but enough has been said in these few pages to show that this branch of curio-hunting is full of fascination and deep interest and is well worth the attention, not only of readers who possess artistic feeling, but of those who are desirous of adding to their store of knowledge concerning the military dress of bygone periods.