![MANBY, Captain George William (1765-1854). Autograph manuscript draft of an autobiographical memoir, ‘An accurate chronological table, of historic memoranda, remarkable events in the life of George William Manby’, n.d.[paper watermarked 1829]. 24 leaves, folio, on bifolia;](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16019_0051_001(manby_captain_george_william_autograph_manuscript_draft_of_an_autobiog054354).jpg?w=1)
![MANBY, Captain George William (1765-1854). Autograph manuscript draft of an autobiographical memoir, ‘An accurate chronological table, of historic memoranda, remarkable events in the life of George William Manby’, n.d.[paper watermarked 1829]. 24 leaves, folio, on bifolia;](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2018/CKS/2018_CKS_16019_0051_000(manby_captain_george_william_autograph_manuscript_draft_of_an_autobiog071630).jpg?w=1)
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MANBY, Captain George William (1765-1854). Autograph manuscript draft of an autobiographical memoir, ‘An accurate chronological table, of historic memoranda, remarkable events in the life of George William Manby’, n.d.[paper watermarked 1829]. 24 leaves, folio, on bifolia;
with related manuscripts and letters including a further fragment of a memoir, 4 pages, quarto; copy letters by Manby to George Elliot, secretary to the Admiralty, 21 March 1831, and to James Herbert, secretary to Trinity House, 18 June 1834, proposing the use of light-ships to protect shipping approaching Yarmouth Roads; and letters to Manby by the Arctic explorer William Scoresby (n.d., on Manby’s invention of a new type of harpoon gun), Admiral Robert Plampin (29 June 1816, on Manby’s invention of a fire-extinguisher), equerries to the Duke of Sussex, George IV (2) and Prince Albert, and four others, 1833-1842; and six items of printed ephemera by Manby and others, 1825-1842, on the subject of naval life-saving measures at sea, and the establishment of ‘a national fire police’.
All tipped into an album, folio, half leather (upper cover detached).
On saving lives from shipwreck and fire. Manby’s memoirs recount his early life from his birth until approximately 1802, including his education at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, his service in the Cambridgeshire militia, his marriage and its subsequent debacle, with many colourful anecdotes, including of his first effort at life-saving when he rescued a drunken man-servant who had fallen into a cess-pit. Manby was the inventor of the Manby Mortar for saving lives from shipwrecks, and also of the first modern form of fire extinguisher. The British Library holds an autograph continuation of the present memoir, ‘Autobiographical reminiscences of Captain George William Manby’ (Add MS 29893), recounting the second half of his eventful life.
with related manuscripts and letters including a further fragment of a memoir, 4 pages, quarto; copy letters by Manby to George Elliot, secretary to the Admiralty, 21 March 1831, and to James Herbert, secretary to Trinity House, 18 June 1834, proposing the use of light-ships to protect shipping approaching Yarmouth Roads; and letters to Manby by the Arctic explorer William Scoresby (n.d., on Manby’s invention of a new type of harpoon gun), Admiral Robert Plampin (29 June 1816, on Manby’s invention of a fire-extinguisher), equerries to the Duke of Sussex, George IV (2) and Prince Albert, and four others, 1833-1842; and six items of printed ephemera by Manby and others, 1825-1842, on the subject of naval life-saving measures at sea, and the establishment of ‘a national fire police’.
All tipped into an album, folio, half leather (upper cover detached).
On saving lives from shipwreck and fire. Manby’s memoirs recount his early life from his birth until approximately 1802, including his education at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, his service in the Cambridgeshire militia, his marriage and its subsequent debacle, with many colourful anecdotes, including of his first effort at life-saving when he rescued a drunken man-servant who had fallen into a cess-pit. Manby was the inventor of the Manby Mortar for saving lives from shipwrecks, and also of the first modern form of fire extinguisher. The British Library holds an autograph continuation of the present memoir, ‘Autobiographical reminiscences of Captain George William Manby’ (Add MS 29893), recounting the second half of his eventful life.
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