Books and Manuscripts

One of the finest color-plate books of the 19th-century, and one of the most important accounts of the Mexican-American War

New York: D. Appleton & Company/Philadelphia: George S. Appleton, 1851. First edition (one of about only 500 copies). Large folio, 23 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. (597 x 444 mm). iv, 52 pp. Illustrated with a lithographic frontispiece map by Erhard Schieble, and 12 hand-colored lithographs, heightened with gum arabic, by (Adolphe Jean-Baptiste) Bayot, after C(arl). Nebel (plate 11 by Bayot and Bichebois); printed by Lemercier in Paris; paper-guards renewed. Original three-quarter black morocco over green cloth-covered boards, stamped in gilt, rebacked and with corners partially renewed, with sections of original leather laid down, soiling and dampstaining to front and rear boards, scratching to same; top edge gilt, other edges trimmed; edges of map repaired, dampstaining along top of same; dampstaining along top edge of most text leaves and plates; professional repairs in corners and edges; scattered foxing in text leaves. Howes K 76; Sabin 37362

A landmark book of lithographic illustration and one of the most important works on the Mexican-American War (1846-48). The Mexican-American War was the first foreign conflict extensively covered by U.S. journalists, and George Wilkins Kendall (1809-67) was one of its most important chroniclers. Considered America's first war correspondent, Kendall was an ardent supporter of war with Mexico, and when hostilities broke out in 1846, he immediately made his way to the Rio Grande and joined the Texas Rangers. He saw combat in the Battle of Monterrey (September 21-24, 1846) and traveled with General William Jenkins Worth, and later attached himself to the company of General Winfield Scott. By the end of the war he had written over 200 first-hand reports, many of which were printed in The New Orleans Picayune, which he co-established and co-edited. For this volume's text, Kendall culled from official military reports, and the illustrations, each depicting a scene from a key battle, were completed by German artist Carl Nebel. According to Kendall in his preface, the twelve illustrations by Nebel were based on drawings that were executed, "on the spot by the artist," and, "as regards the general configuration of the ground, fidelity of the landscape, and correctness of the works and buildings introduced, they may be strictly relied upon." The volume was published concurrently by the Appletons in New York and Philadelphia, and the plates were produced by Lemercier in Paris, as both Kendall and Nebel believed they should be executed by the finest printers available. They both spent time in Paris overseeing the production, and personally financed the printing.

A handsome and professionally restored copy, with bright and vivid hand-coloring.