William Siborne’s New Waterloo Model

Authors

  • Philip Abbott

Abstract

William Siborne has played a major role in our understanding of the battle of Waterloo, and has left a lasting legacy in the form of two large models, a collection of eyewitness accounts, and a history of the campaign that has remained in print since it was first published in 1844. But Siborne's history has become clouded in controversy, and as a result his skills as a model maker have gone largely unnoticed. A recent project to conserve his New Waterloo Model at the Royal Armouries in Leeds has presented a unique opportunity to review this aspect of his work, and to appreciate some of the subtleties of this complex piece of art.

Author Biography

Philip Abbott

PHILIP ABBOTT graduated from Manchester University in 1983 with an Honours Degree in History. He took a Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Science at Aberystwyth University in 1986/87, and joined the Royal Armouries in the same year. After managing the Museum's library service for many years, he was appointed Archives and Records Manager and retrained, obtaining a Postgraduate Diploma from Dundee University. He published his first book in 2015, a biography of two brothers who fought in the 52nd Light Infantry during the Peninsular War, and is currently working with a number of regimental museums on a project to digitize First World War archives. He is a Trustee of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers Museum.

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Published

2016-06-28

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Section

Articles