Milford Haven (Louis Alexander Mountbatten), Admiral the Marquess of. BRITISH NAVAL MEDALS: COMMEMORATIVE MEDALS, NAVAL REWARDS, WAR MEDALS, NAVAL TOKENS, PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS, LIFE-SAVING MEDALS, ENGRAVED PIECES, &C., &C. London, 1919. Folio [41.5 by 26 cm], original white cloth; dark blue leather spine label, gilt; red page edges. Fine frontispiece medallion of the author; xii, 498, (2) pages; fine collotype illustrations of medals throughout the text; errata slip tipped in. Minor spotting to covers; generally fine. A well-preserved copy of this very scarce and most important numismatic classic. In the Introduction, the author writes that "The object of this work is to describe and give the history of all medals which have been produced at different times to commemorate naval events and the deeds of seamen in war and peace. To this end all public and the principal private collections have been searched, and casts obtained of the rarer pieces to complement the medals in my own collection." This first volume is in many respects the most important, focusing on the British series of Naval medals. It includes Milford Haven's extensive listing of Admiral Vernon medals and other pieces of American interest. Two additional volumes were published, in 1921 and (posthumously) 1928, on Naval medals of other countries. One of the true landmarks of numismatic literature. Clain-Stefanelli 14695. Grierson 264. Suetens 628: "Ouvrage de référence sur cette matière, qui ne contient pas seulement les décorations mais aussi les médailles commémoratives."