Friends and Colleagues,

We have a featured item this week about a tattoo.  It’s not what you think.  Tattoos these days are a dime a dozen.  Our item is not a celebration of the contemporary and ubiquitous ink found on the skin of so many.  No, we are celebrating ancient (or at least several hundred year old) tradition of a military tattoo.

Though military tattoos are known in the United States, they are more common in Great Britain, especially in Edinburgh.   They are performances of music, or displays of armed forces.  They tend to be elaborate shows involving theatrics and musical performances.  I suppose the 4^th of July fireworks displays with military bands in Washington could be considered a form of tattoo (though I’ve never heard the term applied that way). 

If you are lucky enough to visit Edinburgh in the summer, one of the great tattoo is held on the esplanade in front of Edinburgh Castle.  Lit up at night, there are drums, kilts, and of course bagpipes galore.  Troops march in various formations and it’s a delightful spectacle.

We are pleased to offer the original artwork for a poster, advertising the Northern Command Tattoo of 1936, which took place at Ravensworth Castle.  It had a distinctly comic dimension, involving music, theatrics, and comic reenactments; while in general great fun, it had a serious aspect as it benefited a number of military related charities.  This is a pasted up version for printing the poster for the tattoo.  It is, to say the least uncommon.

Cheers,

Nick

Captain H. Oakes-Jones. [ORIGINAL ART] THE NORTHERN COMMAND TATTOO. IN AID OF CIVIL & MILITARY CHARITIES & WELFARE. RAVENSWORTH CASTLE, GATESHEAD. NEAR NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE. JULY 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, & 11. 1936. AT 9-30 COMMUNITY SINGING AND MUSIC. Price: $750.00	John Pitman, Commander Aldborough. [ARCHIVE] [BRITISH NAVY] BURSAR’S LOG AND ORDERS RE VICTUALLING FRENCH PRISONERS, 1743-1744. Price: $1,250.00

[GENEALOGY] DESCENDENT TABLE OF WARBURG FAMILY. Price: $150.00	Matt[hew] Carter. [ARMS] HONOR REDIVIUUS OR AN ANALYSIS OF HONOR AND ARMORY. Price: $450.00
P[hilip] H[enry] Sheridan. [CIVIL WAR] PERSONAL MEMOIRS OF P. H. SHERIDAN [2 VOLUMES]. Price: $450.00	John Philip Schabalie | Bernhart B. Brechbill [Translator]. [RELIGION] THE WANDERING SOUL: OR, DIALOGUES BETWEEN THE WANDERING SOUL AND ADAM, NOAH, AND SIMON CLEOPHAS. Price: $85.00
William Pinhorne. [COLONIAL] [LEGAL] DEED TO COTT LOVELACE HOMESTEAD. Price: $125.00	[George W. Munford]. [LAW] THE CODE OF VIRGINIA. SECOND EDITION, INCLUDING LEGISLATION TO THE YEAR !860. Price: $125.00
Charles Moore. [PHOTOGRAPHY] [RICHMOND] THREE A.M., 1973. Price: $100.00	John Mair. [ECONOMICS] BOOK-KEEPING MODERNISED: OR, MERCHANT-ACCOUNTS BY DOUBLE ENTRY, ACCORDING TO THE ITALIAN FORM. WHEREIN THE THEORY OF THE ART IS CLEARLY EXPLAINED AND REDUCED TO PRACTICE, IN COPIOUS SETS OF BOOKS ... TO WHICH IS ADDED A LARGE APPENDIX. Price: $250.00
Unknown. [INDIA] [BUSINESS] PRIVATE CODE BOOK. Price: $150.00	Amristead Lindsay Long | Marcus J. Wright (Editor). [CIVIL WAR] MEMOIRS OF ROBERT E. LEE, HIS MILITARY AND PERSONAL HISTORY, EMBRACING A LARGE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION, HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED, BY A. L. LONG ... TOGETHER WITH INCIDENTS RELATING TO HIS PRIVATE LIFE SUBSEQUENT TO THE WAR. Price: $300.00
Richard L. Carne, Jr. [VIRGINIANA] VIRGINIA HANDBILL. Price: $100.00	Church of England. [RELIGION] THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE SCARAMENTS & OTHER RITES & CEREMONIES OF THE CHURCH, ACCORDING TO THE USE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND; TOGETHER WITH THE PSALTER OR PSALMS OF DAVID, POINTED AS THEY ARE TO BE SUNG OR SAID IN CHURCHES; & THE FORM & MANNER OF MAKING, ORDAINING, AND CONSECRATING OF BISHOPS, PRIESTS AND DEACONS. Price: $150.00
Alfred E. Burr. [NEWSPAPERS] THE HARTFORD DAILY TIMES, 1851. Price: $200.00	Thomas Lediard. [BRITISH NAVY] THE NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND IN ALL ITS BRANCHES; FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST IN THE YEAR 1066, TO THE CONCLUSION OF !734. COLLECTED FROM THE MOST APPROVED HISTORIANS, ENGLISH AND FOREIGN, AUTHENTIC RECORDS AND MANUSCRIPTS, SCARCE TRACTS, ORIGINAL JOURNALS, ~&c. WITH MANY FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS NEVER BEFORE MADE PUBLICK. IN TWO VOLUMES. Price: $550.00
Charles Henry Hart. [AMERICANA] BROWERE’S LIFE MASKS OF GREAT AMERICANS. Price: $95.00	[CHURCH HISTORY] [GERMAN LUTHERAN] DENKSCHRIFT ZUM 50-JAHRIGEN JUBILAUM DER ERSTEN EVANGELISCH-LUTHERISCHEN GEMEINDE. Price: $125.00
Lyon Gardiner Tyler. [AMERICANA] THE LETTERS AND TIMES OF THE TYLERS [2 VOLUMES]. Price: $250.00	Arch Fredric Blakey | Gary Gallagher. [SIGNED] [CIVIL WAR] GENERAL JOHN H. WINDER. Price: $95.00
Various. [MEMORIAL] MEMORIAL OF JAMES DOUGLAS BRUCE. Price: $75.00	Gary Gallagher; Joan Waugh | Gary Gallagehr. [SIGNED] [CIVI LWAR] THE AMERICAN WAR. A HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR ERA. Price: $150.00
Charlton Hinman. [LITERATURE] THE NORTON FACSIMILE. THE FIRST FOLIO OF SHAKESPEARE. Price: $90.00	Peter Cozzens | Gary W. Gallagher. [CIVIL WAR] [REVIEW COPY] GENERAL JOHN POPE. A LIFE FOR THE NATION. Price: $65.00
B. Noland Carter II. [SIGNED] [VIRGINIA] A GOODLY HERITAGE: A HISTORY OF THE CARTER FAMILY IN VIRGINIA [2 Volumes; Set]. Price: $200.00	Paul N. Beck | Gary W. Gallagher. [CIVIL WAR] COLUMNS OF VENGEANCE. Price: $65.00
Sir Henry Chauncy. [ENGLAND] THE HISTORICAL ANTIQUITIES OF HERFORDSHIRE.WITH THE ORIGINAL OF COUNTIES, HBUNDREDS OR WAPENTAKES, BOROUGHS, CORPORATIONS, TOWNS, PARISHES, VILLAGES, AND HAMLETS; THE FOUNDATION AND ORIGIN OF MONATESTRIES, CHURCHES, ADVOWSONS, TYTHES, RECTORIES. Price: $1,500.00	Gary W. Gallagher [Editor] | Gary W. Gallagher’s copy. [SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION] [SIGNED] THE FREDERICKSBURG CAMPAIGN. DECESION ON THE RAPPAHANNOCK. Price: $400.00
Luigi Serafini. [ ] CODEX SERAPHIANUS. WITH DECODEX BOOKLET. Price: $125.00	Carl M. Lathrop. [SHENANDOAH VALLEY] SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY: BEING A HISTORY OF THE VIRGINIA BLUE RIDGE RAILWAY, THE BEE TREE LUMBER COMPANY AND THE LEFTWICH TIMBER COMPANY. Price: $85.00
Marshall Wingfield; Edward Maria Wingfield. [VIRGINIA] A HISTORY OF CAROLINE COUNTY VIRGINIA. FROM ITS FORMATION IN 1727 TO 1924. COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL RECORDS AND AUTHORITATIVE SOURCES AND PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. TO WHICH IS APPENDED “A DISCOURSE OF VIRGINIA”. Price: $75.00	Marie Hall Ets. [CHILDREN] MISTER PENNY. Price: $95.00
H. J. Eckenrode; Bryan Conrad. [CIVIL WAR] JAMES LONGSTREET. LEE’S WAR HORSE. Price: $100.00