West Pointer Boers by Colonel Blake (2 results)

411 pp. Illustrated. 8vo, publisher's cloth lettered in white, with applied photographic illustration on the front panel. First edition. Pencil notation on front free endpaper; white title lettering on the spine partially effaced; a few marks to the cloth; tight and sound.

Cloth. Condition: Very Good. None Stated (illustrator). First edition. The first edition of Blake"s Boer War memoir, written by the West Point-trained American commander of the Irish Brigade, illustrated with fifty-two plates. In the publisher's original green cloth binding with an illustration of the author on horseback to the front board. First edition. Illustrated with fifty-two monochrome plates, including a frontispiece. Collated, complete. A personal narrative by Colonel John Y. F. Blake, a West Point graduate and former U.S. cavalry officer who fought for the Boer side during the Second Boer War. The work follows Blake"s route from the American West to South Africa, his command of the Irish Brigade, and his experiences during the campaign. John Young Fillmore Blake (1856-1907) was an Irish-American soldier and writer who served in the U.S. Army before resigning his commission in 1889. In South Africa he became one of the best-known foreign volunteers on the Boer side, commanding Blake"s Irish Brigade against British forces. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, generally smart. Slight rubbing and bumping to extremities. Slight rubbing to boards with minor surface loss to laid down image. Previous owner's ink inscription to front paste down. Institutional stamp of Woody Nel to rear paste down. Rear hinge starting, with webbing partially exposed. Internally, generally firmly bound. Hinges slightly strained in places, but firm. Institutional stamp of Woody Nel and blind stamp to title page; blind stamp also to pp. 87-88. Small chip to margins of plates facing 171 and 232, not affecting the image. Pages bright and clean with the odd light spot, heavier to first and last few leaves; one or two pencil annotations. Very Good. book.