Instructions designed for the use of officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, of the Woodley, and other Volunteer Cavalry, Dedicated by Permission to the Right Hon. Henry Addington, Commanding the Woodley Corps. By W. Penny, Sergeant Major of the 20th Reg. of Light Dragoons.

PENNY, William, Serjeant Major.

Published by Reading, printed for the Author by Smart and Cowslade, [1804].

About this Item

First Edition. in contemporary red straight-grained morocco, gilt roll tooled border to covers, flat spine gilt in compartments and lettered in gilt, spine and extremities a little rubbed, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. Small 8vo (140 x 80 mm), pp. [v], [i], v, [i], 92, with two folding engraved plates, both coloured, one just larger than the book (164 x 97 mm), simply folded in on itself at foot and outer edge, the other a large plate (378 x 200 mm), folded twice in each direction and quite bulky within the text block, torn twice along the inner folds, through the plate but with no loss, plate a little dog-eared along the folds especially the inner fold, both plates hand-coloured, A delightful copy of this very scarce provincially published manual for the manoeuvring of cavalry in combat, written by William Penny, Sergeant Major of the 20th Regiment of Light Dragoons. Printed in handy pocket format and intended for the use of volunteer cavalry regiments, Penny dedicates the work to the future Prime Minister Henry Addington (1757-1844), who was at this point the Captain Commandant of the Woodley Corps, Berkshire. When, as Prime Minister in 1803, Addington addressed the House of Commons to announce the resumption of the war with France, he praised the readiness of the British people to join the volunteers as ?an insurrection of loyalty?, turning on its head the prevailing fear of political unrest and using it instead as a patriotic rallying cry to the volunteer regiments. Interestingly, for this important speech, he chose to address the House in the uniform of the Woodley Cavalry Volunteers. The text is accompanied by two striking hand-coloured plates showing plans for ?The Different Positions of Three Squadrons, with their Flanks thrown back and left Flank brought forward? and ?A Sketch of the Attack of Front and Flank with One Squadron? Both plates are folding, one so large it is a fairly ambitious project to fold into a pocket-sized book. OCLC lists BL, Bodleian and Reading only.

Seller Inventory # 4145

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Instructions designed for the use of officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, of the Woodley, and other Volunteer Cavalry, Dedicated by Permission to the Right Hon. Henry Addington, Commanding the Woodley Corps. By W. Penny, Sergeant Major of the 20th Reg. of Light Dragoons.
• Publisher: Reading, printed for the Author by Smart and Cowslade, [1804].
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Seller catalogs:
  • History and Society