[American War of Independence.] Three original hand-tinted engravings: portraits of ‘The Honble Horatio Gates, Major General of the American Forces’ and ‘John Paul Jones’, and ‘First Action between the English and Americans at Concord in 1775’.

Three contemporary engravings, now scarce. All three items are in good condition, each laid down in a nineteenth-century mount. All have been trimmed (the information concerning each comes from another source), and all are partially tinted. ONE: ‘The Honble Horatio Gates, Major General of the American Forces’. From ‘An impartial history of the war in America, between Great Britain and her colonies’ (R. Faulder, London, 1780). 9 x 16 cm; in 21 x 27 cm mount. A full-length portrait of Gates, with right hand on chest and left hand holding the ‘Articles of Capitulation’. His coat is in red, and his sword in yellow. TWO: Stipple engraving of ‘John Paul Jones’ by John Chapman. Oval, 8.5 wide and 11 high; in 12.5 x 18 cm mount. Published in 1796. A head and torso portrait of a wide-eyed Jones, bare-headed and with a brace of pistols in his belt. The background has been painted blue, and his face pink and lips red. THREE: ‘First Action between the English and Americans at Concord in 1775’. 8.5 x 13 cm; in 21 x 14.5 cm mount. From ‘The British Martial Register’ (London, James Cundee, 1806). The British footsoldiers, whose coats have been picked out in red, are urged forwards by an officer on a horse brandishing a sword, and are fired upon by Americans on a wall.