Armsmear: The Home, The Arm, and the Armory of Samuel Colt; A Memorial by [Samuel Colt]; Barnard, Henry (Editor) - 1866

New York: Alvord Printer, 1866. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Quarto size, 399 pp. A beautiful memorial to the history and legacy of American industrialist and inventor Samuel Colt (1814-1862), published four years after his death. Colt's designs were to have a major effect on the move away from the single-shot pistols to the popularization of the revolver, the most famous of which were the "Colt Walker", made in 1846 by the Eli Whitney, Jr. (son of the inventor of the cotton gin), and the "Peacemaker", developed in 1872. Most of the lawmakers (and lawbreakers) of the Old West used Colt arms, most notably Arizona lawman Wyatt Earp, who used a Colt .45-caliber revolver during his time in Tombstone, Ariz., and which was probably used in the shootout at the O.K. Corral; and Wild Bill Hickok who had a 1860 .44 caliber Colt Army Richards Mason conversion. Colt's revolvers became popular with the forerunners of the Texas Rangers who placed an order for 1000 Colt Walkers, putting Samuel Colt's company on stable financial ground.

This volume includes a detailed account of Armsmear, the home of Samuel Colt, the historical development, description and manufacture of the Colt firearm, the history of The Colt Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company, Potsdam, the historical development of the torpedo, a memoir of Colt, letters, talks and writings by Colt, and a description of the monument in Cedar Hill Cemetery. Slipped in is a 4-page illustrated advertisement for the Colt Automatic Pistol caliber .25, and a pamphlet about a new safety device added to the same pistol. From the library of Coles Hegeman, with his attractive bookplate on the front free endpaper.

___DESCRIPTION: Bound in full green pebbled cloth, triple narrow-ruled gilt border and gilt armorial binding with Samuel Colt's motto and crest "Vincit Qui Patitur" to both boards, all edges gilt, tissue-guarded frontispiece a steel engraving of Samuel Colt with his signature in facsimile beneath, engraved from a photograph by Matthew Brady, replete with 83 steel engravings, both full-page and in-text, opening with a vignette of Armsmear; quarto size (10.5" by 7.75"), pagination: [i-ix] x [xi] xii-xiii [xiv] [15-18] 19-399 pp.

___CONDITION: A near fine copy, the binding clean with the gilt on the boards remarkably bright and unrubbed, gilt edges also remarkably bright, the plates clean and complete, internally bright and clean with the only prior owner marking being the bookplate referred to above; some slight rubbing at the corners, a bit of rubbing to the gilt at the tail of the spine, light offsetting to the title page from the frontispiece, and an old repair to the rear hinge, which has kept it strong and sturdy.

___CITATIONS: Wright-Howes C 624, Sabin 14763.

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