Details
DONKIN, Major Robert (1727-1821), publisher. Military Collections and Remarks. New York: H. Gaine, 1777.
8° (200 x 122mm). (Lacks frontispiece, small tear at title hinge.) 19th-century speckled calf, spine gilt, red leather spine label. Provenance: J. Plumbe, Capt. Royal Lancashire Militia, Muker, 1796 (ownership inscription on title).
Donkin, who died a General, served under Granard in Ireland (to whom he attributes these reflections) and under Gage in America, and is said to have been a friend of David Hume. The book, written to raise money for the widows and children of the 'valiant soldiers inhumanly and wantonly butchered [while] peaceably marching to and from Concord the 19th April, 1775', and of those 'that gloriously fell in their country's cause at Bunker Hill', contains pieces on such topics as 'Order of battle', 'Spies', and 'La petite guerre', with numerous references to 'the present unnatural rebellion' and the cruelties perpetrated during it, such as scalping, and tarring and feathering. It is notorious for the footnote on page 190, usually deleted but present in this copy, in which he suggests (in a piece on 'Bows'): 'Dip arrows in matter of small pox, and twang them at the American rebels, in order to inoculate them; This would sooner disband these stubborn, ignorant, enthusiastic savages, than any other compulsive measures.' Sabin 20598; Howes U.S.iana 422.
8° (200 x 122mm). (Lacks frontispiece, small tear at title hinge.) 19th-century speckled calf, spine gilt, red leather spine label. Provenance: J. Plumbe, Capt. Royal Lancashire Militia, Muker, 1796 (ownership inscription on title).
Donkin, who died a General, served under Granard in Ireland (to whom he attributes these reflections) and under Gage in America, and is said to have been a friend of David Hume. The book, written to raise money for the widows and children of the 'valiant soldiers inhumanly and wantonly butchered [while] peaceably marching to and from Concord the 19th April, 1775', and of those 'that gloriously fell in their country's cause at Bunker Hill', contains pieces on such topics as 'Order of battle', 'Spies', and 'La petite guerre', with numerous references to 'the present unnatural rebellion' and the cruelties perpetrated during it, such as scalping, and tarring and feathering. It is notorious for the footnote on page 190, usually deleted but present in this copy, in which he suggests (in a piece on 'Bows'): 'Dip arrows in matter of small pox, and twang them at the American rebels, in order to inoculate them; This would sooner disband these stubborn, ignorant, enthusiastic savages, than any other compulsive measures.' Sabin 20598; Howes U.S.iana 422.