The Army of the United States & Its Uniform from 1898 to 1907 (Two volumes in three)

Henry Loomis Nelson; H.A. Ogden [Illustrator]

Whitlock, 1885-1908.

Elephant folio. 3 volumes set. 47 pl., 23 pl., all 70 plates present as called for. Quarter bound in brown cloth. Original brown paper boards. Gilt boards. Good binding and cover. Vol. I part I has clean unmarked pages. Vol. I part II contains all 44 plates, including the 3 additional plates for 1898-1900. Plate I has toning and marginal foxing, but other 46 plates are in near fine condition. Vol. II has all 23 plates, all near fine condition, with a minor creasing to first plate. Clamshell case of Vol. II worn. Clean, unmarked pages.

Contents: v. 1, pt. 1. Text, by H.L. Nelson -- v. 1, pt. 2. [Plates illustrating U.S. army uniforms from 1774 to 1888.] -- v. 2. Uniform of the Army of the United States, 1898 to 1907.

Henry (Harry) Alexander Ogden aka H. A. Ogden) was an American illustrator particularly of historical and military subjects. After 8 years working for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, in 1881 he resigned to set up as a free-lance artist, submitting numerous illustrations to various newspapers and magazines. A number of these were illustrations of historical scenes, and Ogden's interest in early America and the Revolutionary War led him to his most ambitious project, to record the uniforms of the United States Army. Between 1890 and 1907, various sections of Uniforms of the United States Army were published. The Quartermaster General of the army had been so impressed with Ogden's work that he commissioned the artist to prepare designs depicting the uniforms of the army since its inception in the 18th century. The first dozen watercolors were completed by the mid-1880s; these were used in the Regulations for the Uniform of the Army of the United States published in May 1888. The artist began work on seventy paintings representing uniforms worn between 1774 and 1888. In 1890, the first forty-seven plates were published, and subsequent plates covered the period from 1898 up to 1907.