[ROBERTS OF KANDAHAR, LORD]. Forty-One Years from Subaltern to Commander-in-Chief. London: Richard Bentley, 1897.
FIRST EDITION. In two volumes, leather-bound, hardcover, octavo (22cm x 14cm), pp. xx, 511; xii, 522, 64 ads & index. English text with illustrations throughout. Handsomely rebound in half calf gilt by Bayntun-Riviere, cloth sides, t.e.g., marbled endpapers, half-titles in red, titles in red & black,1 folding map of Central Asia, 9 plans (5 folding, some colour), 30 steel and wood-engraved plates (1 folding), 2 wood-engraved title vignettes, printed footnotes, appendix and index. Printed by Billings and Sons. Condition: NEAR FINE. Bindings tight and secure. Very faint mottling to cloth, the covers otherwise excellent. The interior very well-preserved. Armorial bookplate to front pastedowns. An excellent set.
Notes: Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts was one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. Born in India to an Anglo-Irish family, Roberts joined the East India Company Army and served as a young officer in the Indian Rebellion during which he won a Victoria Cross for gallantry. He was then transferred to the British Army and fought in the Expedition to Abyssinia and the Second Anglo-Afghan War, in which his exploits earned him widespread fame. Roberts went on to serve as the Commander-in-Chief, India before leading British Forces to success in the Second Boer War. He also became the last Commander-in-Chief of the Forces before the post was abolished in 1904.
