BRONZE MEDALLION OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. Frontispiece. Chats on MILITARY CURIOS BY STANLEY C. JOHNSON M.A., D.Sc., F.R.E.S. WITH EIGHTY ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS...

The Author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Dr. Philip Nelson for the loan of the valuable coins which figure in the illustrations on pages 265, 271, and 277; to Mr. Tom Satterthwaite for the loan of many of the medals depicted in these pages; to Mr. Leonard Baggott for the loan of arms; to Messrs. Henry Sotheran for permission to reproduce three Cruikshank prints; to Messrs. Spink & Son for permission to reproduce the Royalist Badge; also to Mr. Edwin Johnson, B.Sc., and Mr. Ja

Preliminary considerations—Where to search for curios—What to search for—Specializing—Undesirable curios—The catalogue of the Royal United Service Museum—Public collections of military curios For centuries past the collection of military curios has been the select pastime of men of title and soldiers of rank. Lately, however, owing to the War and the great spread of interest in all things pertaining to it, the circle of collectors has considerably widened, until to-day few things are more treasu

Household Cavalry—Dragoon Guards—Cavalry—Artillery—Engineers—Guards—Infantry, both past and present nomenclature—Other units The composition of the British Army is a matter concerning which the lay reader knows but little. As many regiments will be mentioned by name in the following pages, it is very necessary that the various divisions be given in tabulated form for purposes of reference. Without such a list the collecting of badges, crests, and other devices cannot be performed methodically no

The fascination of regimental crests—How to plan a collection of crests—The changes which crests undergo—The meaning of crests—Mottoes on crests, and their meanings The crest or badge worn by a soldier is probably one of his most cherished possessions, for it is at once the symbol of his regiment and the mascot which urges him on to fame and victory. It is but little wonder, then, that such emblems, so jealously preserved, should prove of deep interest to the collector of military curios. In our

The growth of uniforms—The effect of the decline in armour on uniforms—The part played by Elizabeth—Uniforms in the time of the Civil War—In Charles II's reign—James II—The first two Georges—Uniforms in the Peninsular War—The close-fitting uniforms of George IV—The changes which were brought about in William IV's time—Later changes—Peculiarities of the military dress of to-day One of the most interesting tasks which the collector of military curios can set himself is to trace out, by all availab

The scarcity of good armour—Considerations for the collector—Counterfeit armour—The twelve periods in armour—The characteristics of each period—Glossary There is much that is fascinating in the study of armour, and the seeker after military curios will do well to consider the advisability of making a collection of armour pieces. In praise of this particular form of treasure-hunting we could write a good deal, but, as space is necessarily limited, it will be wise to content ourselves, at the outs

Buying specimens—Storing them—Hand culverins—The serpentin—The wheel-lock—The flint-lock—The rifle—Swords—The effect of armour on swords—Swords with historical associations—Other weapons Of all the antiques which are to be found in an average bric-à-brac shop there is probably nothing upon which the dealer is so ignorant as the class of military curio which comes under the head of weapons; as a consequence, we find that the ruling prices for these relics of the battlefield are either excessively

How to arrange a collection of medals—Factors which influence the value of a medal—The earliest medals—The first English medal—The first English military medal—The Forlorn Hope medal—The Dunbar medal—The Culloden medal—Medals granted by the Honourable East India Company—The Pope's medal, 1793—The Emperor Francis II of Germany's medal, 1794—The Seringapatam medal—The Egyptian medal, 1801—The Rodriguez medal—The Nepaul medal—The Maida medal—The Peninsular officers' medal The dignity which enshrine

Campaign medals considered—Waterloo—Burmah—China—Cabul—Jellalabad—Scinde—Meeanee —Sobraon—The men's Peninsular medal—Punjab—Indian General Service medals—South Africa, 1850-3; also 1877-9—Baltic—Crimea—Indian Mutiny—Abyssinia—New Zealand—Later awards In these days when the deeds of brave men, whether they be of high or low rank, are acclaimed with equal praise, it is extremely difficult to understand the feelings which actuated the authorities a hundred or more years ago when awarding military m

The necessity for special awards—The Victoria Cross—The Order of Merit—The "Distinguished Conduct in the Field" award—The Distinguished Service Order—The Meritorious Service award—The Long Service and Good Conduct award—The "Best Shot" medal—Volunteer decorations—Other decorations The reader who has noted the facts set out in the two previous chapters will remember how, in the earliest days of medal awarding, the general plan was to decorate none but the soldiers who had performed exceptional se

General considerations—The "lost wax" process—Hadrian's medallions—Renaissance examples—Simon, the medallist—Wyon's work—Public collections—Some noted medallions described From the days when Roman militarism dominated the world down to the present time, the deeds of successful soldiers have been commemorated by the striking of medallions. Needless to say these metal pieces, which so admirably recall the outstanding events in war and soldiery, are highly prized by antiquarians, and the labour spe

The period 1750-1860—Works including military prints—Where to search for bargains—The kind of print most sought after—Works including fine military prints—Bunbury—Gillray In the following notes we do not propose to go deeply into the lore of print collecting, as the matter is too involved for treatment in these pages, and also because such admirable books as "Chats on Old Prints," by Arthur Hayden, already cover the ground. Here we propose to talk of military prints as they affect the general co

Classes of military brasses—Rubbings, and how to make them—Floor brasses: their characteristics—Palimpsest brasses—What may be learnt from brasses—Mural tablets In many of our churches and public buildings are to be found numerous memorial brasses which possess undoubted interest for the collector of military curios. These memorials of the dead largely fall into two classes: those which are let into floors, and those which are fixed to walls. The former class, as a rule, are of some antiquity, a

The fascinations of autograph collecting—Points which influence the value of an autograph—Autographs classified—A "Schomberg" letter—The notes scribbled by Airey at Balaklava—General hints—Prices of autographs Ninety-nine out of every hundred autographs which find their way into collectors' albums are said to be those of actresses, who are popular favourites to-day but not to-morrow. As a consequence, autograph collecting is seldom considered a serious hobby worthy of the attention of serious-mi

The earliest war stamps—Stamps used in the Crimean War—The British Army Post Office Corps—The Sudan Expedition—The South African Campaign—The Great War—Recent war stamps and postmarks—Indian war stamps—Other war stamps Among the many thousand varieties of postage stamps which philatelists treasure few can compare in point of interest with those which have carried letters from the firing line to the fireside. Such specimens are sought after not merely by the stamp-collector, but by the general co

French obsidional notes—Mafeking notes—The Napoleonic assignats—Charles II and University plate—Mints at Carlisle, Beeston, Scarborough, Newark, Colchester, and Pontefract—Irish gun money Just as there are many postage stamps which owe their origin to the stern necessities of war, so there are a great number of coins, tokens, notes, etc., which have found their way into circulation as a result of the belligerent attitude of armies. All such examples of war money are extremely interesting and wel

Objects recently made in Holland—The Napoleonic prisoners at Norman Cross, Perth, Dartmoor, Stapleton, Liverpool, and Greenland Valleyfield Ever since the days when enemy soldiers and sailors were first interned for protracted periods of time, it has been a practice for the incarcerated men to while away the tedium by making little odds and ends of things as souvenirs. Their wares are often of extreme interest, as they help us to gain some idea of the class of people who have been interned on pa

Considerations respecting miscellaneous curios—Battlefield souvenirs—Regimental colours—Odds and ends of dress equipment—Books and newspapers of military interest—Royal souvenirs—Official military documents—Gruesome relics—Relics of the Great War Among the most acceptable military curios are those which may be classed as miscellaneous; they range from fragments of "Black Marias" to chocolate tins, and Prussian helmets to early copies of the Army List. Treasures which come under this head are to

Reasons for compiling a history of one's collection—The part played by photographs—Armour suggested as an example—Material for grangerizing In this concluding chapter we have a suggestion to make to the collector of ample leisure moments; briefly, it is that he should draw up a history of his treasures. Such a work has many valuable advantages; first, it helps to co-ordinate the pieces which our collection contains; second, it provides work of a fascinating nature; third, it leads us to hunt thr

WORKS DEALING WITH MILITARY CRESTS, BADGES, UNIFORMS, ETC. Ackermann, R. Costumes of the British and Indian Armies. A collection of 67 coloured plates. 1840. Army Clothing Regulations. Part I. Regular Forces. (Wyman.) 1914. Atkinson, J. A. A Picturesque Representation of the Naval, Military, and Miscellaneous Costumes of Great Britain: with coloured plates. 1807. Colnaghi ,—. Costumes of the Army of the British Empire according to the Regulations of 1814. 1815. Crests of the British Army. A colo