8vo. xv, [1], 423pp, [1]. With seven engraved folding plates and eight folding tables. Contemporary sprinkled calf, tan morocco lettering-piece. A trifle rubbed and marked, upper joint starting. Book-label of Sir John Dashwood King to FEP. Internally clean and crisp.

The first edition in English of the Kingdom of Prussia's infantry guide: Reglement vor die königl. preussische Infanterie, the first published work of army officer and much-admired military tactician Sir William Fawcett (1727- 1804).

In 1781, having served with distinction in several campaigns in Germany, Fawcett was appointed adjutant-general on the British establishment, promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and charged with reviewing the severely disrupted and outmoded drill system. He was well-suited to the task, being widely considered to possess one of the finest strategic minds of his day, and well versed in contemporary martial literature having translated, inter alia, Reveries, or, Memoirs upon the Art of War (London, 1757), Regulations for the Prussian Cavalry (London, 1759) and Regulations for the Exercise of Riflemen and Light Infantry (London, 1798).