Hardcover, navy blue cloth cover, the text and graphic on the front cover, along with the text on the spine all in silver-coloured ink, entitled "British Military Pistols 1603-1888", by Robert E. Brooker, Jr., copyrighted by the author in 1978, printed by the Taylor Publishing Company of Dallas, Texas in 1978, the printing limited to 1,000 copies, Library of Congress Card Number 77-070785. The book utilizes 1603 as the starting date, since prior to the reign of James I (1603-1625), Brooker was "unable to find any pistols which could plausibly have been used by the English military forces." He goes on to state that "the year 1887 was selected as a stopping point as it is here with the adoption of the Webley Mark I revolver that we are into modern smokeless pistols." It begins with an Acknowledgements, followed by a Table of Contents and a Foreword. The book is divided into nine chapters: I - Pre-Regulation Pistols, 1603-1685; II - Regulation Pattern Military Pistols, 1685-1760; III - Late Flintlock Regulation PIstols, 1760-1837; IV - The Percussion Period; V - Cartridge Revolvers Up to the Smokeless Period; VI - East India Company Pistols; VII - Non-Military Government Pistols; VIII - British Military Pistols Used by Non-British Countries; IX - British Military Patterns Copied by Other Nationalities. It concludes with Appendices: I - A Description of the Littlecote House Pistols; II - Ordnance and Other Marks Found on Pistols Pictured Herein; III - A possible of the Richard Wooldridge 1742 10-inch contract pistol, with two plates of "Late Finds" inserted at the rear. The book contains 140 pages of text and 154 photographic plates, printed in black ink, on a semi-coated white paper stock, measuring 220 mm (w) x 285 mm (h) x 13 mm (d). It is named in black ink to the previous owner on the inside front cover, exhibiting light scuffing on the covers, along with light discolouration on the edges of the pages, the first few and last few pages with scattered fingermarks, some of the pages slightly loose versus the binding and exposing the underlying stitching, however, the pages within remain generally clean, the photographs crisp. A very hard to find book and high in demand among collectors. Better than very fine.
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