12mo (155 x 94 mm). 12 engraved plates, 7 folding (Plate IX incomplete with loss along edge, foxing throughout, minor soiling). Contemporary full calf (rubbing, minor losses to corners).

FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST MILITARY MANUAL PRINTED DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

Military Instructions for Officers Detached in the Field was printed during the first months of the Revolutionary War and precedes by four years Baron von Steuben's Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States. The engravings included within the text illustrate military strategies which also include guerilla tactics, a type of warfare ultimately essential in helping the United States to win the war. Stevenson's work is further notable for being the first book printed in the United States to be dedicated to General George Washington, who had been commissioned Commander in Chief of the Continental Army only a few months earlier. ESTC W20757; Evans 14475; Hildeburn 3290; Howes, S91, "aa"; Reese, Revolutionary Hundred, 35; Sabin 91607.