VERY RARE WORK ON SWEDISH UNIFORMS BY ROOS, 1783/-89.

ROOS, CARL GUSTAF. Samling af swenska arméens uniformer. Receuille [sic!] des uniformes de l'armée swedoise. No place, 1783. (Contemporary corrections made by hand for changes by 1789 -see note below*).

Small oblong octavo (152 x 167 mm.). (5) leaves including engraved title. 53 hand-coloured engraved plates, also heightend with gold and silver, of which 2 with hand-written and 51 with pasted printed captions (last plate numbered 53-54).
Near contemporary mottled calf with gilt spine, raised bands, red label and all edges gilt. Minor stains. Very light offsetting on a few plates. Note with ink on verso of plate 49.

With a handwritten note written in German and bound at the front fly leaf stating: "Geschenk des Königs Gustav Adolph von Schweden, der 1818 bis 1826 als Oberst Gustavson in Basel lebte, zur Weinacht im Ramsteinerhof an den Vorfahren des jetzigen Besitzer: Nicolas R. Burckhardt.
Im Herbst 1933 im Schloss Skokloster in Schweden zeigte ich das Buch Baron Rudolf Cederström, Direktor des Kgl. Stoffensammlung in Stockholm. Er sagte mir es sei eine grosse Seltenkeit da nur jenige Exemplare erhalten seien. Über Baron Cederström schrieb Lichtwark in seinen Reisebriefen Band II s. 277 u. 303. Rudolf F. Burckhardt 26 Sept. 1933". (Given from the king Gustav Adolf of Sweden, who from 1818 to 1826 as 'colonel Gustavson' lived in Basel, for christmas in Ramsteinerhof to the ancestor of the current owner: Nicolas R. Burckhardt.
In the fall of 1933, at the castle Skokloster in Sweden I showed Rudolf Cederström, director of the Royal Armoury in Stockholm, the book. He told me it was a great rarity as only a few copies were known. Lichtwark wrote about baron Cederström in his Reisebriefen volume II p. 277 and 303. Rudolf F. Burkhardt 26 sept. 1933).

NB! Although this seems totally plausible, the information must be treated as circumstantial, since nothing in the copy itself corroborates it.

*It has been brought to our attention (by Martin Markelius of Armémuseum (Stockholm War museum), author of Gustav III:s krig (2020) and expert on military uniforms, that, in some instances, certain details of uniform and armament, have been corrected (or updated) by hand (the hand-colouring) according to the renewed uniform reglementations of 1789. Markelius, who based much of his documentation on the copy held at the Armémuseum library, is of the opinion that our copy is generally of better quality and that the corrections are contemporary.

Kungliga Biblioteket (Royal Swedish Library) lists a copy with printed 1789, though this is probably a mistake.

Setterwall, Svensk historisk bibliografi 1771-1874, 5174 (also states 1789). Bellander, Dräkt och uniform (Stockholm, 1973) p. 367, notes that the uniform depictions are correct even in small details.

Svenskt konstnärslexikon IV s. 507. Carl Gustaf Roos (1748-1795), Swedish officer and artist. Roos advertised his work in the december 15, 1783 issue of Inrikes Tidningar, under the heading 'Til salu finnes': 'Enligt i wåras gjord intimation är nu [...] werket öfwer swenska arméens uniformer, til någon mängd complette exemplar färdige och kunna bekommas i Runemarks bokklåda för 4 R:dal. exemplaret'. [...] 'Som detta werk redan kostat mig ganska mycken möda och arbete, finner jag ej rådligt utan pränumeration widare til något betydande antal däri lägga mera kostnad...' [...] '...då det ej allenast såsom nytt i afseende på wår klädedrägt ger kännedom om skilnaden regementerne emellan, mycket applicabelt för unga militaires til julklapp, utan äfwen då det med ambition förfärdigas, kan nyttjas til taflor i rum så då blir 53 stycken, klistras på wäf, som en carta, eller i bok inbindas, efter behag, och derjämte tienande til en oskyldig ögonfägnad'. (Roos informs that the work is completed and a few copies are for sale at Runemark's bookstore, and continues to mention that, since it has cost him a lot of work, more copies will only be made on request. In the last paragraph he recommends it as a suitable christmas present for young officers, either bound as a book or as loose plates to hang on walls). This would also explain the scarcity of the work.

Scarce work on Swedish military uniforms of the 'Gustavian' age. Only known in a handful library-held copies, of which at least one incomplete.

Swedish king Gustav IV Adolf (1778-1837) was son of king Gustav III and the heir to the throne after his father was assasinated in 1792. He was dethroned in 1809 after the loss of Finland to Russia and went into exile. He died in St. Gallen in Switzerland. Burckhardt was one of the leading and most influential families in Basel and it's natural that Gustav IV Adolf, constantly short of funds, sought them out. Ramsteinerhof is an imposing building in Basel, rebuilt in late baroque style by Samuel Burckhardt the years 1727-32. The current owner is related to the Burckhardt family and inheritor of the book.

Small repair to title. Minor stains. Very light offsetting on a few plates. Note with ink on verso of plate 49.