NELSON, Horatio, Admiral (1758-1805). Autograph letter signed ('Nelson & Bronte') and two letters signed ('Nelson' and 'Bronte Nelson') to Captain Andrew Thomson, and an autograph letter signed ('Nelson & Bronte') to Mrs Thomson, H.M.S. Foudroyant and Merton, 1 August 1799 - 5 October 1802, with a cut autograph signature ('Horatio Nelson (Captain)') in his right-handed form, annotated in another hand 'Borius [ i.e. HMS Boreas] 30 9 b e r 1787', together 2 pages, folio, and 1½ pages, 4to , integral address leaves (slight discolouration, three tears in letter of 1.8.1799, touching one word, tears in letter of 18 February 1800, touching one word); together with a collection of documents relating to Captain Thomson's naval career, including a narrative in Thomson's autograph of his service between 2 July 1799 and 24 May 1800, and autograph letters signed to Captain Thomson by Thomas Masterman Hardy, Dorchester, Dorset, 26 February 1806, 2 pages, 4to , and by Lord Keith and Sir Alexander John Ball, bound in contemporary diced russia panelled in gilt and blind, flat spine gilt with small insignia in compartments (spine crudely mended, lacking clasp, extremities worn). The two letters signed by Nelson instruct the then Lieutenant Thomson to replace a lieutenant on board the Foudroyant , and to take command of the prize ship Le Genereux . The letter to Mrs Thomson informs her that her husband is confirmed as a captain; while in the letter to Captain Thomson of 5/10/1802 Nelson refers to an occasion on which he had recommended Thomson - 'you know that I would have said nothing if I could not have spoke well of you' - with other expressions of friendship, and reports seeing Thomson's old commander, Captain Martin, looking 'very fat & well'; with a postscript 'Sir Will m: and Lady Hamilton desire their best regards'. Captain Thomson's picturesque and discursive 'Narrative', some 25½ pages, concerns his service at the siege of Naples, and includes accounts of the state of the city under siege, the treatment of Neapolitan prisoners after the siege, and the lavish royal celebrations in Nelson's honour on the anniversary of the battle of the Nile; with excursions to the ruins of Pompeii, and the theatre at Herculaneum. The remainder describes Thomson's ten months' service on board Nelson's flagship the Foudroyant , with a description of the action against the Guillaume Tell , and Thomson's observations of Nelson, amongst them a censure of his 'paying so much attention to Lady Hamilton'. The letter of Captain Hardy refers to Nelson's death ('The great loss I met with on the 21 s t of October is too melancholy to dwell on'), and mentions his own ill-health. The remaining documents are chiefly orders, with some letters of recommendation.
NELSON, Horatio, Admiral (1758-1805). Autograph letter signed ('Nelson & Bronte') and two letters signed ('Nelson' and 'Bronte Nelson') to Captain Andrew Thomson, and an autograph letter signed ('Nelson & Bronte') to Mrs Thomson, H.M.S. Foudroyant and Merton, 1 August 1799 - 5 October 1802, with a cut autograph signature ('Horatio Nelson (Captain)') in his right-handed form, annotated in another hand 'Borius [ i.e. HMS Boreas] 30 9 b e r 1787', together 2 pages, folio, and 1½ pages, 4to , integral address leaves (slight discolouration, three tears in letter of 1.8.1799, touching one word, tears in letter of 18 February 1800, touching one word); together with a collection of documents relating to Captain Thomson's naval career, including a narrative in Thomson's autograph of his service between 2 July 1799 and 24 May 1800, and autograph letters signed to Captain Thomson by Thomas Masterman Hardy, Dorchester, Dorset, 26 February 1806, 2 pages, 4to , and by Lord Keith and Sir Alexander John Ball, bound in contemporary diced russia panelled in gilt and blind, flat spine gilt with small insignia in compartments (spine crudely mended, lacking clasp, extremities worn). The two letters signed by Nelson instruct the then Lieutenant Thomson to replace a lieutenant on board the Foudroyant , and to take command of the prize ship Le Genereux . The letter to Mrs Thomson informs her that her husband is confirmed as a captain; while in the letter to Captain Thomson of 5/10/1802 Nelson refers to an occasion on which he had recommended Thomson - 'you know that I would have said nothing if I could not have spoke well of you' - with other expressions of friendship, and reports seeing Thomson's old commander, Captain Martin, looking 'very fat & well'; with a postscript 'Sir Will m: and Lady Hamilton desire their best regards'. Captain Thomson's picturesque and discursive 'Narrative', some 25½ pages, concerns his service at the siege of Naples, and includes accounts of the state of the city under siege, the treatment of Neapolitan prisoners after the siege, and the lavish royal celebrations in Nelson's honour on the anniversary of the battle of the Nile; with excursions to the ruins of Pompeii, and the theatre at Herculaneum. The remainder describes Thomson's ten months' service on board Nelson's flagship the Foudroyant , with a description of the action against the Guillaume Tell , and Thomson's observations of Nelson, amongst them a censure of his 'paying so much attention to Lady Hamilton'. The letter of Captain Hardy refers to Nelson's death ('The great loss I met with on the 21 s t of October is too melancholy to dwell on'), and mentions his own ill-health. The remaining documents are chiefly orders, with some letters of recommendation.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
