This striking collection of lithographs is a marvelous sampling of military, social, and costume history. It features a wealth of richly colored, hand-tinted prints portraying the gamut of U.S. army uniforms, from fatigues to full dress, between 1774 and 1889. Absolutely authentic in their painstaking detail, the illustrations depict officers and enlisted men in minutely detailed regalia, complete with weapons, horses, and accoutrements. Beautifully reproduced to retain every nuance of color and form, 44 plates encompass brigadier generals, staff, and line officers, cavalry, infantry, and artillery troops — even musicians — awaiting orders, receiving reports at the edge of the battlefield, and in other martial settings. Individual plates include a Minute Man (1774–75), General Washington as Commander-in-Chief (1779–83), a West Point Cadet (1813–21), General-in-Chief Winfield Scott (1858–61), Lieutenant-General Grant and Major-General Meade (1861–66), and many more.Readers will be dazzled by the extraordinary detail and beautiful color of these plates; military enthusiasts, hobbyists, students of dress and design, and lovers of fine lithography will consider this volume an essential addition to their collections.
