Medieval British knights, princes, kings and noblemen, tradesmen and court figures are shown in colorful costumes in a series of brilliantly rendered aquatints.

Charles Hamilton Smith (1776-1859) was an artist, illustrator, soldier and spy. He served as a British Army officer during the Napoleonic Wars seeing some active service, but spending most of his career in the British Isles in various staff positions. Smith was also a self-taught artist, and an extremely prolific one -- by his own estimation he produced over 38,000 drawings over the years. Most of these were of non-military subjects, however over 1,400 were uniform studies, with another 3,000 containing accurate drawings of soldiers. He is also known for his Costume of the Army of the British Empire, originally published between 1812 and 1814. Many of these were reissued in 2002 by Greenhill Books, London, under the title Wellington's Army.

Condition: Generally very good with only minor toning. Original colors bright and fresh.

Reference:

Burnham, Robert. "Reviews: Wellington's Army: The Uniforms of the British Soldier, 1812-1815." The Napoleon Series. September 2002. http://www.greenhillbooks.com/booksheets/wellingtons_army.htm (10 April 2003).