BRADFORD'S SKETCHES OF THE COUNTRY, CHARACTER, AND COSTUME IN PORTUGAL AND SPAIN, 1810, WITH 53 BEAUTIFUL FOLIO HAND-COLORED PLATES

(SPAIN) (PORTUGAL) (NAPOLEONIC WARS) BRADFORD, William. Sketches of the Country, Character, And Costume, in Portugal And Spain, Made during the Campaign, and on the Route of the British Army, in 1808 and 1809. London: John Booth, 1810. Large folio (13 by 19 inches), period-style full red straight-grain morocco, boards and spine elaborately decorated in gilt and blind, all edges gilt. $7500.

First edition, early issue, illustrated with 53 full-page hand-colored engraved folio plates, including 40 plates of scenic views of Portugal and Spain along with examples of native costume, and a supplement of 13 plates of the military uniforms of the Spanish, Portuguese, and French armies. A large, wide-margined copy.

William Bradford was the Chaplain to the British Army during the Peninsular War, England's foray into Iberia on the side of Spain and Portugal, a central campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. First published in 1809-10 in 24 separate parts, and then again in 1810 in book form (see Abbey, Travel 135), this early issue contains the title page dated 1810 (some title pages appear with the date 1809) and plates watermarked 1808 and 1809, as in the first issue. The supplemental suite of 13 plates of military costumes always accompanies the work. With uncolored frontispiece of "The Monument to Sir John Moore," not always present. Abbey Travel 135. Tooley 109. Armorial bookplate.

Plates and text clean and fine, with excellent hand-coloring. A near-fine, exceptionally wide-margined copy in beautiful period-style binding.