History of the manners and customs of the Cossacks, The

London: G. Smeeton, [1813]. The History of the Manners and Customs of the Cossacks
With a Hand Colored Frontispiece and a Portrait of Count Platoff by George Cruikshank
Albert M. Cohn's Copy

[CRUIKSHANK, George, illustrator]. The History of the Manners and Customs of the Cossacks; Describing their habitations; singular mode of fighting; Religion; Customs; ... Also, the life of the brave Hettman of the Cossacks, Count Platoff... London, G. Smeeton, [1813]. Sixth edition with considerable additions... [together with]

A Description of the Defeat of the French Army, under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte, by the Allied Armies, Commanded by Field Marshal His Grace The Duke of Wellington, and Field Marshal Prince Blucher, in front of Waterloo, on the 18th of June 1815... In Barker's Panorama [J. Adlard, Printer], 1816.

Octavo (8 1/4 x 5 inches; 209 x 127 mm.). [1-4], 5-20; [1-3], 4-12 pp. The first title with a hand colored frontispiece by George Cruikshank "The Cossacks attacking the French Army under Murat" (signed in pencil by George Cruikshank? in lower left-hand corner)and a full-page woodcut portrait of Count Platoff on page [14], both unsigned.

Disbound, housed in [Albert Cohn's] tan paper folder with the original catalog description from the 1942 Parke-Bernet auction pasted to inside of folder. (folder flap neatly repaired).

The publication, which bears at the top of the title the mention Sixth edition, with considerable additions, is not dated. However, the publisher George Smeeton's address is 139 St. Martin's Lane (he moved to 17 St. Martin's Lane in 1814) and the text refers to events in the year 1813, allowing it to be dated precisely.

A famous Cossack horseman, Count Platov (1751-1818) was one of the fiercest opponents of the Napoleonic army in Russia. He occupied Paris with his troops in 1814: there is no doubt that if the pamphlet had been published after that date, the British publisher would have announced the news with delight...

Extremely rare: OCLC/KVK locate just one copy of the first title (dated 1815) in libraries and institutions worldwide: Brown University (RI, US) and just four copies of the second title: Florida State University (FL, US); DePaul University (IL, US); Johns Hopkins University (MD, US) and The University of Glasgow (UK).

Provenance: Parke-Bernet Galleries NY, April 22/23, 1942 (Albert M. Cohn's copy). The only copy located in auction records over the past one hundred years.

Cohn, 391.