About this Item
[9], Vi-Xxix, [3], 367, [1], 401-472, [4] Pages, [1] Leaf Of Plates : Portrait (Copper Engraving) ; 23 Cm (8Vo). (Note That Pages Vii, 468, 470 Are Mis-Numbered Vi, 486, 468 Respectively). List Of Presidents At End [473], Followed By Three Pages Of Ads. The Leaves Are 20.8 X 12.5 Cm. First Published 1780 In The U.S., First London And Irish Editions 1782, This Edition Considerably Enlarged With Treaties, Etc. In 1783. Original Speckled Calf, Worn, Edges Frayed And Rounded; Spine, Newly Re-Backed To Style, Red Morocco Spine Label, Gilt. . Contents Complete, Including Frontispiece Of Washington. Tightly Bound. Bookplate, Motto Pro Rege Et Patria / Denique Caelum", Motto Of The Leslie-Melville Family, The Earls Of Leven And Earls Of Melville, With Printed Signature Of "A. Leslie Melville" . The Honorable Major General Alexander Leslie (1731 ? 1794), Son Of The 5Th Earl Leven And 6Th Earl Of Melville, Was A Major General In The British Army During The American Revolutionary War. He Was The Commander Of The British Troops At The Battle Of Harlem Heights. He Replaced Cornwallis As Commander In The South In 1782. Very Little Is Known Of His Childhood. Leslie Was Brother To Lady Mary Hamilton. He Enlisted In The 3Rd Foot Guards Of The British Army In 1753. He Was Promoted To Lieutenant-Colonel Of The 64Th Regiment Of Foot In 1766. In 1775, Before The American War Of Independence Broke Out, He Led Troops To Salem, Massachusetts Looking For Contraband Weapons. His Advance Was Delayed By A Standoff At A Bridge, During Which The Colonists Removed The Weapons He Was Looking For. His Force Was Eventually Allowed To Proceed, But Found Nothing Of Consequence, And Was Received With Hostility During The Expedition. In 1776, Leslie Was Promoted To Brigadier-General. He Fought In The Battle Of Long Island, The Landing At Kip's Bay, The Battle Of White Plains And The Battle Of Harlem Heights, The Battle Of Princeton And The Siege Of Charleston During The American War Of Independence. At Princeton, His Nephew, Captain William Leslie Was Mortally Wounded. In 1780, He Was Sent To The Chesapeake Bay By Sir Henry Clinton In Order To "Make A Powerful Diversion In [Earl Cornwallis's] Favor By Striking At The Magazines Then Collecting By The Enemy . For Supplying The Army They Were Assembling To Oppose Him." He Became Major General In 1782 And Was Made Colonel Of The 63Rd (West Suffolk) Regiment Of Foot The Same Year. He Transferred In 1788 To Be Colonel Of The 9Th (East Norfolk) Regiment Of Foot To His Death. Also, With A Later Gift Inscription Dated 1960. Seller Inventory # 043164
Contact seller
Report this item