#MC4
Ca. 1824-1827
Oblong Small Octavo (ca. 11,5x18,5 cm). Over 130 leaves, with [30]; [6], [3] filled in on both sides. Brown ink on laid paper. Manuscript title on the front pastedown. Original brown full calf album with a metal clasp; spine with two morocco labels, including a gilt lettered red label “Memorandum Book” and a gilt lettered green label numbered “1”. The album slightly rubbed on extremities, several leaves in the beginning removed, but overall a very good album.
Original manuscript military memorandum book with detailed descriptions of the manoeuvres performed by British regiments stationed in Gibraltar during 18 reviews in December 1824 – May 1825. The records document regular “field days,” reviews by the Earl of Chatham (December 1824, May 1825) and half yearly inspections by General Sir George Dow (December 1824, May and December 1825). Two later entries describe a “Field Day of the 43rd Rt. Infy. Depot, Commanding by Major [?]. Devonport, October 1826” and “A Field Day of the 37th Regt., half yearly inspection before Gen. Sir George Bingham, Cork, 5th May 1827.”
“Gibraltar is a heavily fortified British air and naval base that guards the Strait of Gibraltar, which is the only entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. Since the 18th century, Gibraltar has been a symbol of British naval strength, and it is commonly known in that context as “the Rock.” <…> In 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession, Sir George Rooke captured Gibraltar for the British, and Spain formally ceded it to Britain under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The Spanish nevertheless made several attempts to retake Gibraltar from Britain, most notably in a protracted but unsuccessful military siege that lasted from 1779 to 1783. In 1830 Gibraltar became a British crown colony. The opening of the Suez Canal (1869) heightened British determination to keep possession of Gibraltar, since the Mediterranean was the main route to Britain’s colonies in East Africa and southern Asia” (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
