.jpg?w=1)
Details
HORATIO, VISCOUNT NELSON (1758-1805)
Autograph letter signed ('truly yours Horatio Nelson') to Captain [Henry D'Esterre] Darby, n.p. [Vanguard at Lisbon], 'Tuesday morn' [24 April 1798?], one page, 8vo, integral leaf addressed 'To Capt[ain] Darby Bellerophon', annotated, presumably by the recipient, with a list of supplies, traces of red wax seal (slightly browned, splits in two horizontal folds, stains from sellotape repair, upper portion of 2nd leaf removed, not affecting writing).
A REQUEST, FOLLOWED BY A TEASING ENQUIRY. 'My Dear Sir Pray take care of my letter to the Earl and also one for London, the latter put into the post office on board the Ville de Paris success attend your undertakings there is a very pretty young girl setts every day on a Gun carriage at the mole are you fond of chicken'. The Earl to whom Nelson had written was Lord St Vincent, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, and the Ville de Paris was his flagship. Nelson, after convalescing following the loss of his right arm at Santa Cruz the previous July, hoisted his flag in the Vanguard in March 1798. The ship was at Lisbon from 23-27 April, before joining St Vincent's fleet at the end of the month and Nelson's pursuit of the French two months later culminated in the battle of the Nile on 1 August. Sir Henry Darby (d.1823), one of Nelson's 'Band of Brothers', was severely wounded in the battle.
Autograph letter signed ('truly yours Horatio Nelson') to Captain [Henry D'Esterre] Darby, n.p. [Vanguard at Lisbon], 'Tuesday morn' [24 April 1798?], one page, 8vo, integral leaf addressed 'To Capt[ain] Darby Bellerophon', annotated, presumably by the recipient, with a list of supplies, traces of red wax seal (slightly browned, splits in two horizontal folds, stains from sellotape repair, upper portion of 2nd leaf removed, not affecting writing).
A REQUEST, FOLLOWED BY A TEASING ENQUIRY. 'My Dear Sir Pray take care of my letter to the Earl and also one for London, the latter put into the post office on board the Ville de Paris success attend your undertakings there is a very pretty young girl setts every day on a Gun carriage at the mole are you fond of chicken'. The Earl to whom Nelson had written was Lord St Vincent, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, and the Ville de Paris was his flagship. Nelson, after convalescing following the loss of his right arm at Santa Cruz the previous July, hoisted his flag in the Vanguard in March 1798. The ship was at Lisbon from 23-27 April, before joining St Vincent's fleet at the end of the month and Nelson's pursuit of the French two months later culminated in the battle of the Nile on 1 August. Sir Henry Darby (d.1823), one of Nelson's 'Band of Brothers', was severely wounded in the battle.
Special notice
VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price plus buyer's premium.