This lot is similar to the previous lot about Lord Nelson, but it is in brown boards and all the engravings are in black and white. It is still a first edition set, with the same title and authors, and the extra illustrations are lacking.
The title is still The Life of Admiral Lord Nelson K.B. from His Lordship’s Manuscripts, By The Rev. James Stanier Clarke, F.R.S. Librarian to The Prince, And Chaplain Of His Royal Highness’s Household. And John M’Arthur, Esq. LL. D. Late Secretary To Admiral Lord Viscount Hood, London, Printed By T. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street. For T. Cadell and W. Davies, In The Strand. And W. Miller, Albermarle Street]. 1809.
It is still a two-volume first edition set of this important biography of Lord Nelson. The two volumes are bound in brown boards with the title and names of the authors and the 1809 date in gilt on the spine, there are blank endpapers, with the original marbled endpapers bound in, and the frontis that depicts Nelson dying (“The Immortality of Nelson”) is now in black and white.
The dedication page is still the same - to His Royal Highness George Augustus Frederick The Prince (The Prince of Wales), then a two-page advertisement from the authors again thanking the Prince, William Earl Nelson (Lord Nelson’s brother), and Lady Nelson for providing letters from her late husband, which helped the authors write this biography. The fifteen-page list of orders received prior to publication is still present, as are the thirty-five pages of Contents for both volumes (i - xxxv), followed by Explanations of the Engravings for the two books (i - xiv), a facsimile of a letter from Lord Nelson, and then 359 pages of text and engravings in Volume I, an Appendix with Lord Nelson’s family tree and details about the Battle of Trafalgar, for a total of 375 pages in Volume I and 511 pages in Volume II, with the four maps of battle plans Lord Nelson used at the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar; all the pages are printed on high-quality thick paper, and the books have plain edges.
The two-volume set was printed by Thomas Bensely and published by Thomas Cadell and William Davies, and the authors relied on the manuscripts in the British Museum - the manuscripts are known as the Bridgeport Collection - and they borrowed letters from friends of Lord Nelson as well as from his wife, Lady Hamilton, to complete this work.
We believe this is still a first edition set because the number of subscribers is still the same and it seems like the same printing plates were used for the text in this lot and in the previous one - the text is the same in both lots.
This set is still 4 To. and each volume measures 13 1/2 x 11 1/4 in. wide; Volume I is
2 1/4 in. deep here and Volume II is 2 3/4 in. deep, there are no color plates in this set, only twelve black-and-white engravings, and most of the engravings have some browning on them. Still a rare first edition set, the binding is tight and secure, and at an affordable price for people who would like to know more about the life of Lord Nelson.