4to. Engraved frontispiece; tipped-in portrait of Howe. 2 folding plates of battle plans; letter from King George III reproduced in facsimile. (Some slight spotting.) Later full crushed red levant gilt, green watered-silk doublures and endleaves by L. Staggemeire and Welcher with their engraved ticket (neatly rebacked). Provenance: Inscription 1899 ("Frater Fratri"); James Ward (bookplate). 

FIRST EDITION, A WIDE-MARGINED COPY, of this anonymous work commemorating the so-called "Glorious First of June," in which Lord Howe and the British fleet defeated Villaret de Joyeuse and the French fleet in the North Atlantic. This victory in the first major sea battle of the Revolutionary War, though not definitive, was the cause for much celebration in England. Included are rosters of all the ships and engraved battle plans.  NMM V: 1798 (calling for only one plan).