THE PORTS, ARSENALS AND DOCKS OF FRANCE

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1st edition. Crown 8vo c. 7.5 x 4.75 inches, pp. frontis (map) + xx + 209, marbled endpapers, all edges marbled, hardback, contemporary full calf binding. Book condition - VG., contents clean, no inscriptions, no foxing, binding firm, inner hinges intact, bookplate of the High School of Glasgow , dated 27th September 1843, and bookbinders ticket (J. Carss & Co., Glasgow) inside front board ; olive-green full calf prize binding, triple gilt lines, with inner blind pattern, rectangle and central gilt school badge to front and back boards, gilt scroll pattern and red title label to spine ; corners a little bent but intact, back of a clean appearance overall with minor spotting and slight rubbing of central motif , spine with very slight loss at top and some fading of colour, spine label with a small patch of loss but not affecting title, gilt pattern a bit rubbed, front board is very much the same condition as the back, top inch or so of the front hinge is split but board very secure. The book is dedicated to the Editor of the The Times newspaper - "in the latter part of the month of August last, I proposed, in the then feverish and uncertain state of our relations with France, to undertake a journey to the five Military ports of that country. I explained my plan to you and you were at once good enough to open to me the columns of The Times such facts and observations as I might offer. " [from the dedication]. In fact, the writer visited more than the five ports, so that there are chapters on Harve, Cherbourg, Brest, Morbihan, L'Orient, Rochefort, Marseilles,Toulon, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Dunkirk, St.Servan and Bayonne. While much of the content centres on the physical state, the organisation, etc of the ports and docks, there is also much wider general information about the conditions in France (eg the wages of captains and seaman, or in Harve, "The merchants of this town are loud in their complaints against the post-office.", or a report on a 'Soiree Scientifique' on Animal Magnetism - ". and I think the charlatan must have pocketed £20 on the occasion clear profit." ) A good, sound copy of the scarce original edition. N° de ref. del artículo 1522

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