A Plan of Improvements in the Construction and Use of Fire-Arms Great and Small ....

[London?]: [The Author?], 1795?. First Edition.. orig. plain blue wrappers.. A very good copy; blank endsheet filled with contemp. notes; backstrip reinforced with library tape.. 8vo. One plate. [2], (i)ii-iv, (1)2-18, [2], 21-22 pp.; plate {plate is part of the pagination}.

A rare pamphlet printed by the author for private distribution. Butler cautions the reader against allowing copies to be made or losing the printed version. The pamphlet is a well thought out and ingenious method for improving the accuracy and fire power of a musket by introducing a bullet held in a paper cartridge and recommending other adjustments to dampen the vibrations (truncated) along the barrel of the gun. The cartridge and chamber modifications are illustrated. Butler ends his pamphlet with a plea for the care of the foot soldier and offers brief but serious practical recommendations to improve comfort in the the field, e.g., how to waterproof shoes, and the prevention of serious illness (field latrines etc.). The autograph notes on the endsheet are possibly by the author. It is a lengthy commentary on a technical point of the trajectory of the bullet and the mechanical effect the cartridge system has upon it. It also notes that Butler's technical improvements to the lock and cartridge was (to be ?) tested at Woolwich by Hutton. ESTC dates it 1795? (Inventory #: 471)