Beschreibung:

Martin (R. Montgomery) History of the British Colonies, 11 vol. only, including supplement on Australia, 27 portraits, 5 views and 33 double-page engraved maps by J. Rapkin, hand-coloured in outline, featuring vignette views, animals, official seals, tissue guards, some spotting and foxing throughout, a little offsetting, publisher's red cloth gilt, some boards loose or lacking, spines severely damaged with substantial loss, [Mendelssohn III, 269-70; Sabin 44908], 4to, John Tallis & Company, [c.1851] (11) [sold as a collection of plates and not subject to return] *** "A work of extraordinary research, reference, and completeness upon colonial matters and policy" (Hocken). Robert Montgomery Martin (1801-1868) was an Anglo-Irish author and civil servant. He was the first Colonial Treasurer of Hong Kong from 1844 to 1845, the founding member of the Statistical Society of London (1834), the Colonial Society (1837), and the East India Association (1867). The 'History of the British Colonies' was completed in 1831; he obtained an introduction to the king, and on showing his book, received the king's permission to dedicate it to him. John Tallis (1817-1876) was an English cartographic publisher. His company published views, maps and atlases in London from roughly 1838 to 1851.