Quarto. [4], 76pp. With a phototype frontispiece and a further 30 phototype/lithographic plates. Original publisher's red cloth, stamped in gilt and blind, recently rebacked. Rubbed, marked, and bumped. Numerous marginal tears, many naively repaired with clear tape.

A trade catalogue for the Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon, an early type of machine gun, invented by Hotchkiss & Co. founder, Benjamin B. Hotchkiss in 1872. This catalogue details the Cannon's various components and construction, its six different calibers and ballistic capabilities, as well as its on-the-field tactical uses. The various calibers of the gun (37-53 mm) allowed it to be used in a variety of military settings, such as a light mobile version to use on the field to serve as auxiliary to cavalry and troop units, and more powerful mounted versions to serve on naval ships to pierce ironclad vessels. The photographs in the volume depict the cannon's various uses, showing unmounted and mounted versions and their different ammunition, while the numerous lithographic charts show its accuracy and power, measured in tests performed at the Coast Guard base at Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

The Hotchkiss Ordnance Company was an armaments manufacturer founded by American ordnance engineer Benjamin Berkeley Hotchkiss (1826-1885) at Paris in 1875.

Edward Wilson Very (1847-1910), served in the United States Navy in various positions during and after the Civil War, including a stint on the U.S.S. Constitution. He served on the U.S. Navy Advisory Board from 1881-83, and following his retirement in 1885, he served in various positions at Hotchkiss and later the American Ordnance Company.