The principal period covered begins with the flintlock's acceptance as the major military arm about 1700 and ends with America's emergence as a new nation in 1783. Most weapon types from this span of years saw service during the Revolutionary War. Although the majority of European muskets were supposedly standardized by the second half of the 1700s, they still varied in many ways - as did the multiplicity of pieces used by the colonists. For this reason, it is important that the interested collector or student go beyond memorization of official pattern dimensions and develop a sensitivity to contemporary styling. Toward this end, more than twelve hundred illustrations are included.

Tracing the evolution of the five categories chosen for the book (muskets, rifles, pistols, swords, and polearms) provides additional insight into the development of colonial industry - the techniques and facilities which paced our awakening productive capacity. It also indicates the extensive international trade already flourishing in the eighteenth century.

This work is a simple presentation of the best information known to the author at this time and place. New sources are constantly coming to light, and undoubtedly will lead to modification of some of the data included here.

Hard-back book (blue cloth-covered boards) measures roughly ~6-1/4" by ~9-1/4" (portrait); ~1-1/8" thick; 373 pages, no tears or folds; binding fully intact. Book is in good to very-good condition.
NOTE: No dust-jacket.

The present book includes some 700 illustrations; about two-thirds of the illustrated obiects are in the author's collection, while the remainder are from about twenty other sources - museums and collector-friends. I point this out mainly to note that he is intimately familiar with his subiect, having had the opportunity to scrutinize each item and, in the case of firearms, to dismount them to study mechanical features. The book is divided into five main sections - Pistols, Shoulder Weapons, Edged Weapons, Engraved Powder Horns, and Accoutrements (Pole Arms, Bayonets, Saddle Holsters, Gorgets, and Military Headgear). Cannon, which on occasion played an important role in the war, are not included, since they deserve special consideration.

Hard-back book (red cloth-covered boards) measures roughly ~8-1/2" by ~12" (portrait); ~1" thick; 225 pages, no tears or folds; binding fully intact. Book is in good to very-good condition.
NOTE: No dust-jacket.