War Impressions, Being a Record in Colour (Deluxe Limited Edition, Signed by Author)

London: Adam & Charles Black, 1901

Large 8vo, xiv + 254pp. Rebound copy by Bickers & Son in London, half-leather hardcover binding, gilt lettering and tooling to spine, 5 raised bands, marbled boards and endpapers, top edge gilt. With 99 plates and frontispiece, fold-out map and 7 facsimiles of letters, collated and complete. With fixed lint bookmark. With loosely inserted book description from Thorold’s.

Deluxe limited edition of 350 copies, of which this is copy no. 207. Signed by the author Mortimer Menpes.

Mortimer Luddington Menpes (1855 – 1938) was an Australian-born painter, author, printmaker and illustrator. In 1900, after the outbreak of the Boer War, Menpes was sent to South Africa as a war artist for the weekly illustrated magazine Black and White. After the end of the war in 1902 he travelled widely, visiting Burma, Egypt, France, India, Italy, Japan, Kashmir, Mexico, Morocco, and Spain.

He was also a pioneer, with Carl Hentschel, in the development of techniques to reproduce coloured art works in book form. His book, 'War Impressions', published in April 1901 by A. & C. Black, was the first book to faithfully reproduce art works in color, based on watercolors done by Menpes in South Africa, and therefore was the forerunner of all illustrated art books. (wikipedia.com)

Although the great charm of this beautiful book is the collection of coloured portraits and illustrations, the letterpress is entertaining and interesting. It stated that the Boers were physically brave, but had ‘quaint ideas of right and wrong.’ It is remarked that no clergyman of any prominence joined the British forces, and that the chaplains seemed to have little influence with the men; on the other hand, reference is made to the many celebrated surgeons and doctors who did splendid service during the hostilities. (Mendelssohn, 1, p.1008)

Condition: Good-very good. Light rubbing and small spots of superficial wear to boards, very small spots of scuffing to leather binding. Light shelfwear to top and tail of spine. Foxing to endpapers and first a last couple of pages. Light sunning to spine. Crease running front top to bottom edges of half title page/limitation page. Small closed tear and list creasing to fold-out map. Spots of foxing to pages facing the plates and fold-out map, some foxing to edges of textblock. Splitting to gutter between front flyleaf and half title page. Text is clean. Plates are bright. Still well bound.