[A collection of largely eighteenth-century pamphlets and broadsides relating to the Honourable Artillery Company]

London: [vs.], 1786-1813 This collection consists of: - Lists of the chiefs, officers, court of assistants, members, &c. of the honourable Artillery Company. In the year 1788. London. Printed by Stephen Clark, [1788]. 20pp. With extra-engraved title page. ESTC T301314. And two similar, for the years 1797 and 1816. All in contemporary marbled paper wrappers, some light staining. - An address to the inhabitants of london from the court of assistants of the Hon. Artillery-Company. [London]. [s.n], 1794. [2], 15pp, [1]. ESTC T148684. And another similar, for the year 1813. Both in original publisher's printed paper wrappers, the first with sewing broken. - A List of Gentlemen proposed for the Court of Assistants, Officers, &c. of the Honourable Artillery-Company, October 25, 1786. [London]. [s.n.], [1786]. ESTC T169845. And two similar, for October 31, 1787, and December 6, 1797. Single leaf broadsides, printed in red, occasional marginal marking/tearing. - A List of Gentlemen eligible for trustees for the new Leases, lately granted by the Corporation of London to the Artillery-Company. [London]. [s.n., s.d.]. Single leaf broadside, printed in red. ESTC T196231. - At a Court of Assistants of the Hon. Artillery-Company, held at the Armory-House, on Wednesday, May 12, 1790. [London], [s.n.], [1790]. ESTC T232435. And eight others, 1794-1804. Single leaf broadsides, occasional marking/creasing. - Disposition of the fireworks, Ordered by the honourable artillery company, To be displayed in the artillery-ground, on Tuesday Night, August 12, 1783, On his Royal Highness George Prince of Wales, Captain-General of the Company, coming of Age. [London], [s.n.], [1783]. Single leaf broadside. ESTC T183215. - Armory-House, 26 Sept. 1804. Sir, I have to desire you to take notice that the Field Days of the Honourable Artillery Company will take place every Wednesday Morning... [London]. W.P. Norris...Moorside, [1804]. Single leaf broadside. - Honourable artillery company, london. The court of Lieutenancy of the City of London having thought proper... [London]. W.P. Norris...Moorside, [1800]. Large folio broadside, folded horizontally and vertically, slightly creased. ESTC T232440. An interesting and attractive collection of 21 publications relating to the Honourable Artillery Company, established in the Old Artillery Gardens at Spitalfields, which was incorporated by royal charter in the reign of Henry VIII and is therefore the oldest surviving regiment in the British army. The term artillery was all encompassing, initially including longbowmen, crossbowmen and grenadiers; indeed the nascent Grenadier Guards and Royal Marines were both formed by members of the HAC during the second half of the seventeenth-century. Drawn largely from men in the vicinity of the City of London, it became a City institution and a bastion of establishment order; until 1780 responsible for the officer training of London 'trained bands' of militia, serving in the same year to help restore order to London during the Gordon Riots and later acting in a policing capacity in the metropolis. Varying from the most ephemeral circular letter or programme of an eighteenth-century firework display, through a large broadside defence against legal moves on the Company's house, ground and estates by the Court of Lieutenancy, to the official officer lists and prospectuses of the HAC, this collection covers a period of change for the Company. An era in which membership of Company swelled, not least thanks to the threat of French invasion, but also as the purpose of it began to morph, however glacially, from the hard-headed metropolitan military organisation of the early modern period to the increasingly civil and ceremonial position it occupies today. The majority of items in this generally fresh condition collection are rare, with ESTC recording fewer than five British locations, and in many cases just one or two locations (generally BL and the HAC itself). There are few if any holdings in North America for this material recorded by ESTC. . Folio, 8vo and others.