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Law, Manuals, and Regulations


Leather cover (Torpedo Instructions).
Caption: Leather cover (Torpedo Instructions).

United States. Naval Underwater Ordnance Station, Newport.

Torpedo Instructions: Arranged in Two Parts. Part I. Spar Torpedo. Part II. Towing Torpedo. Prepared at the Torpedo Station. [Washington, D.C.]: Bureau of Ordnance, 1876. 83 p., [22] leaves of plates, illus., 14 cm.

Issued in gilt decorated and entitled red leather, the instructions are well illustrated. This copy is of comparative interest because it has been corrected to September 1883.


Service dress uniforms, drawn by J. Goldsborough Bruff.
Caption: Service dress uniforms, drawn by J. Goldsborough Bruff.

United States. Navy Department.

Regulations for the Uniform & Dress of the Navy and Marine Corps of the United States. From the Original Text and Drawings in the Navy Department. Philadelphia: Printed for the Navy Department, by T. K. and P. G. Collins, 1852.[4], [5]-15, [1] p., 12 plates (11 colored), 36 x 29 cm.

This is the first American book of color plates on Navy uniform regulations. Illustrated with 13 large plates, 11 of which are in superb colors, the first four plates are colored and depict in full figure an officer wearing the designated uniform. The first four plates are Full Dress (Chief Engineer, Purser, Surgeon, Captain), Full Dress (Master, Passed Midshipman, Midshipman, Lieutenant), Service Dress (Captain, Midshipman, Surgeon, Purser), and Service Dress (Commander, Passed Midshipman, Chief Engineer, Master). There follow two colored plates of collar and cuff insignia, three colored plates of epaulets, one colored plate of headgear, and two black and white plates of headgear. Also in the rare book holdings of the Navy Department Library there is a second and partial copy of this work that is remarkable. The second copy has within it original drawings for uniforms and insignia, paste up changes, printed ephemeral uniform regulations, and manuscript correspondence in regard to uniform regulations from naval officers who include Admiral David Dixon Porter. There are also uniform illustrations bearing manuscript approval in 1863 by Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy. This second copy is apparently a working dummy for a redo of the 1852 uniform regulations planned for issue after 1866 or later.

Published: Thu Apr 23 10:59:30 EDT 2015