The History Of The Second Dragoons “Royal Scot Greys” by Edward Almack, published in London by Alexander Moring at the De La More Press in 1908, with the same title in gilt letters on the spine, a two-toned cover with cream buckram on the spine and gray linen on the boards, and the front cover features a large gilt eagle sitting on a gilt pedestal that reads “Waterloo”, a symbol of the Greys riding alongside the British heavy cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The book is a history of the Dragoons from their formation as a cavalry regiment in 1707 until the Boer Wars ended in the early 1900’s; their distinguished service continued until 1971, when the regiment was merged into the Royal Scot Dragoon Guards.
The book has blank endpapers with a plain bookplate that identifies where to put the book back when you’re done with it - the bookcase and shelf number - a black-and-white frontis titled “Scotland for Ever”, with a protective tissue guard after the plate, a purple oval that says “Carlton Library Club” on the reverse of the title page, followed by a list of subscribers and a three-page preface with an Errata note on the last page of the preface, then a description of the Contents and a list of the illustrations - there are forty-four illustrations altogether, with three color plates - and there are 312 pages of text, including a two-page addenda, an appendix, and the index at the end.
There is no date on the title page, but the book was published in 1908, and all the errata are uncorrected, so that should make this a first edition from 1908.
The book is 4 To. and measures 12 1/8 x 9 in. wide, with soiling on the spine, browning on the front endpapers, and wear at the tips, but the text and plates are actually very clean, and this is the definitive history of the Second Dragoons and the Royal Scot Greys.