Memoirs of the Rebellion in 1745 and 1746. By the Chevalier de Johnstone... Containing a Narrative of the Progress of the Rebellion, from its commencement to the Battle of Culloden; the Characters of the Principal Persons in it, and Anecdotes respecting them; and various important particulars relating to that contest, hitherto either unknown or imperfectly understood. With an Account of the Sufferings and Privations experienced by the Author after the Battle of Culloden, before he effected his escape to the Continent, &c. &c. Translated from a French MS. originally deposited in the Scots College at Paris, and now in the hands of the publishers. Second Edition, with additional notes, &c. London, Longman, 1821.
Second Edition. 8vo, engraved folding map and pp. lxxii, 456, two engraved portraits, in contemporary half calf over marbled boards, slightly worn, extremities and head and foot of spine a little bumped, spine simply ruled and lettered in gilt, with the bookplate of Montgomery Burnett.
First published in 1820, this is the second of several editions of this important account of the '45 by the aide-de-camp to the Young Pretender. James Johnstone, known as the Chevalier de Johnstone, joined the Jacobite Army in Perth shortly after the raising of the standard at Glenfinnan in 1745. He was twenty-six years old and ‘as proud of his kinship with Scots nobility as any Highlander’ (John Prebble). He served as aide-de-camp both to Lord George Murray and to Prince Charles Edward, and fought with the Jacobites through the remainder of the campaign. After Culloden, Johnstone had a number of narrow escapes, hid in Edinburgh and London, and finally made his way to Holland disguised as a maidservant to Lady Jean Douglas.
‘A very interesting work, written under the influence of disappointment and ill-humour, and therefore to be read with caution. Some of the stories narrated are altogether fictitious’ (Lowndes).