AN HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE ROYAL REGIMENT OF HORSE GUARDS, OR OXFORD BLUES, 1847, WITH SIX HAND-COLORED PLATES DEPICTING REGIMENT MEMBERS ON HORSEBACK DRESSED IN THE UNIFORMS FROM 1742 TO 1834

PACKE, Edmund. An Historical Record of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, or Oxford Blues: Its Services, and the Transactions in which it has Been Engaged, from its First Establishment to the Present Time. London: Parker, Furnivall, 1847. Octavo, original navy cloth recased with original spine laid down. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. $1100.

Early edition of this 19th-century work on the history of the Oxford Blues cavalry regiment, who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Battle of Waterloo, with frontispiece portrait of the Earl of Oxford, hand-colored vignette title page, black-and-white plate of the standard of King William IV, and six colored plates depicting members of the regiment on horseback in the uniforms worn between 1742 to 1834.

This work covers the history of the Royal Horse Guards a.k.a. the Oxford Blues cavalry regiment, from its establishment in the Georgian era to the publication of this book in the early Victorian era. The Blues served in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the Peninsular War, and in the Battle of Waterloo. The author, Edmund Packe, was the son of a distinguished officer who fought at the Battle of Waterloo. While the printed title page is dated 1834, the engraved title page is dated 1847. Moreover, this copy does not call for the 1662 plate; accordingly, it is not present here. This copy does contain the so-called "extra" plates for 1815 and 1834—explicitly called for on the plate list of this copy. All of this indicates that this is an early edition, apparently compiled using some sheets from the first edition such as the printed title page, but with a revised plate list and vignette title page and added illustrations.

Interior generally quite nice, only light wear and soiling to binding with toning to spine. A near-fine copy.