European Hand Firearms of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth & Eighteenth Centuries

with a Treatise on Scottish Hand Firearms. 1923, limited edition, rebound in half-leather

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition, limited to 550 copies, this being number 345. Hardback, rebound in modern half-leather with five raised bands and contrasting leather title label to the spine. Page edges untrimmed, top edge gilt. 33 × 26cm, xvi +108pp, with frontispiece and 63 numbered plates and a few further illustrations within the text, with errata slip (and change of publisher notice as a slip to the title page).

An important title in the library of firearm history literature. This title offers a detailed look at the development of weapons from the 16th to the 18th centuries from the wheel and matchlock to the percussion system. It also studies customised individual weapons made by the gunsmiths of the time, with no interchangeable parts, and only rough parity in ballistics. Following the early hand firearms, Jackson describes the Snaphaunce guns, and the flintlocks and muskets of the 17th Century and 18th Century, completing the history with the percussion bullet. Charles Whitelaw contributes a substantial appendix on Scottish hand firearms, which is accompanied by a list of Scottish gun makers.

The book has 111 illustrations on 63 plates, as well as further diagrams to the Scottish section.

Condition

An attractive book. The rebinding has been done to a high standard and bar some light rubbing to the board's edges is in very good condition. The inner binding is secure but cracked at the half-title page, but remaining firm. The pages have light scattered foxing throughout, and a previous owner (obviously someone with knowledge of antique firearms) has added a small number of marginal pencil annotations, and pencilled dates to some of the plates. The book has been collated and all plates are present, and the book remains in strong readable condition.

Further images available on request.