War between the United States and Mexico illustrated, embracing

1851. KENDALL, George Wilkins and Carl NEBEL. War between the United States and Mexico illustrated, embracing pictorial drawings of all the principal conflicts ... with a description of each battle. New York & Philadelphia: Plon Brothers of Paris for D. Appleton & Co. and George S. Appleton, 1851. Folio. 12 fine hand-coloured lithographic plates, heightened with gum arabic, by Bayot (11) or Bayot & Bichebois (1) after Nebel, printed by Lemercier in Paris, 1 lithographed map. Expertly bound to style in half red morocco and period red cloth covered boards, spine gilt. A first-hand report, in words and pictures, of the first offensive war fought by the United States: the first and only edition, with superb hand-coloured lithographed plates of one of the most important pictorial works relating to the Mexican-American War. Kendall was America's first great war correspondent, and an ardent proponent of the necessity of America's war with Mexico. When hostilities broke out, he went at once to the Rio Grande where he joined with the Rangers, and later attached himself to the Scott expedition. For this work he keyed his text to the individual plates and the combination affords a detailed illustrated account of each battle. The plates are the work of the German artist, Carl Nebel, who painted each of the twelve major clashes of the war. Kendall notes in his preface that "Of the twelve illustrations accompanying his work... the greater number were drawn on the spot by the artist. So far as regards the general configuration of the ground, fidelity of the landscape, and correctness of the works and buildings introduced, they may be strictly relied upon. Every reader must be aware of the impossibility, in painting a battle scene, of giving more than one feature or principal incident of the strife. The artist has ever chosen what he deemed the more interesting as well as exciting points of each combat... in the present series of illustrations the greatest care has been taken to avoid inaccuracies." The authors of Eyewitness to War wrote approvingly that the present work "represents the climax of the confluence of journalism and lithography on the prints of the Mexican war" and that Nebel's images are "the eyewitness prints that must be compared against all others." For the text Kendall drew on "the official reports of the dif.