France, United States. French Military Weapons 1717-1938

Hardcover, red cloth cover, with dust jacket, the text on the front cover and the spine in black ink, entitled "French Military Weapons 1717-1938", by Major James E. Hicks, a limited edition of 2,000 copies, published by N. Flayderman & Co. of New Milford, Connecticut and copyrighted in 1964 (originally published in 1938 as "Notes on French Ordnance"), printed and bound by T. O'Toole * Sons, Inc. of Norwalk, Connecticut, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 64-16389. As stated on the dust jacket: "Published originally in 1938 as "Notes on French Ordnance" this work was printed in an extremely limited edition in typewritten form. Copies of that edition when available in recent years commanded as high as $35.00 to $40.00 (1964 dollars) - not merely for its rarity, but rather for the importance of its material. As it is the sole work in English and the most comprehensive of its type, it is the primary source of information on French weapons and of eminent importance as well as a necessity for the collector of "American Arms"; a preponderance of American Colonial and Revolutionary weapons being of French manufacture and import. The earliest nationally made weapons were also directly patterned after French models. We recently acquired the copyrights to this work and have had it completely typeset in true book form as well as making a few necessary revisions. The best available printing techniques have been utilized as consistent with the quality of our other publications. A noted author in the field of weaponry, Major Hicks' interest dates to 1918 when his collective activities began. In the intervening years between WWI and WWII vast amounts of data concerning weapons were correlated, leading to the subsequent publication of other standard reference works in the field of historical arms and collecting. Among them "Notes on U.S. Ordnance" (Volumes I & II); "Nathan Starr - Arms Maker 1776-1845" and "German Weapons, Uniforms and Insignia 1841-1918". It begins with a Foreword, followed by a four page List of Contents, the book itself designed without chapters, the alphabetical List of Contents directing the reader to the various subject matter. The author opens by establishing the eight Governments of France from 1715 to 1936 (House of Bourbon, First Republic, First Empire, Bourbon Restored, House of Orleans, Second Republic, Second Empire, Third Republic). The book contains a thorough examination of a wide range of weaponry and accessories during this 221 year period, including: blunderbusses, guns, pistols, rifles, machine guns, artillery (including detonating fuzes), shells, grenades, howitzers, cartridges, bayonets, pikes, sabres, swords, lances, optics, periscopes, telescopes, assorted implements, helmets (for both enlisted men and officers), tanks (including their mounting for guns). It also goes into detail examining various markings on powder bags, propelling charges, fixed ammunition, artillery ammunition and fuzes, small arms ammunition and markings in the various Corps. It comes with various notes, identifying the various models of each item, and is illustrated throughout by the use of line drawings, most of which have multiple identifying pointers and descriptions attached to them, many of the diagrams taken from other original publications. The book contains 284 pages of text, printed in black ink, on a thick white paper stock, measuring 160 mm (w) x 235 mm (h) x 30 mm (d). It exhibits foxing on the edges of the pages, along with edge wear and one torn area on the dust jacket, however, the pages within remain unaffected. Better than very fine.

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