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JAMES, William.
The Naval History of Great Britain,
From the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. A New Edition, with Considerable Additions and Notes, and an Account of the Burmese War and the Battle of Navarino, by Captain Chamier.
A wonderful set, handsome on the shelf, and immensely enhanced by the addition of a wealth of visual material drawn from contemporary sources such as the Naval Chronicle, Brenton's Naval History, Jenkins, various voyage books including McLeod and Willyams, and the European and Gentleman's Magazines. A "monument of accuracy - it has stood the test of time and remains the best account of the naval side of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars" (Kemp, The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, p. 425). First conceived of when he was held prisoner in America during the War of 1812 the Naval History is a remarkable work. Working under the motto "Verité sans Peur", James set himself standards of inclusiveness and accuracy extraordinary for the 19th century. His aim was to compile "an exact account of every operation of naval war during the period named. He consulted not only published works, especially the official narratives, both British and French, but also the logs of the ships, and, whenever possible, the participants themselves" (ODNB). Successively mined by Forester and O'Brian for incident and colour, this well-written history is not only essential reference for the period, but makes excellent reading, and this set has the added attraction of an extensive collection of images representative of contemporary naval iconography.
6 volumes bound in 13, octavo (222 × 142 mm). Early twentieth-century navy blue three-quarter morocco, matching linen boards, title gilt direct to spines, raised bands, double fillet panels within the compartments, fouled anchor device gilt to the first, third and sixth, double rule at spine and corner edges, top edges gilt, the others uncut, grey marl endpapers. With the original 24 portraits, and 38 battle-plans in the text, augmented with an additional 580, mostly contemporary, engraved, aquatint, and lithographic portraits, views, battle-scenes, maps and charts, 43 of which are coloured, some double-page; the 28 folding tables bound as a separate volume of Abstracts which has the upper and lower wraps of the original part issue bound in. Slight paint-adhesion from shelving to the bottom edges of the boards, variable light toning, but overall an excellent set.
