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| A Poetry Book from Horatio Nelson http://www.nelsonandhisworld.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1728 |
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| Author: | Phil [ Fri Sep 11, 2015 10:55 am ] |
| Post subject: | A Poetry Book from Horatio Nelson |
A book has appeared on ebay under the heading 'A Poetry Book from Horatio Nelson to Lady Hamilton' This has a dedication on the fly leaf to 'Lady Hamilton ever faithfully yours Horatio Nelson'. It is a copy of "Johnsons Lives" I posted details of a very similar offer in 2011 (see: A Present from Nelson to Emma? ). This was also a copy of "Johnsons Lives" with the same inscription and was on sale for £9,000. I don't think it ever sold. I cannot be sure if this is the same book as I have a feeling the previous inscription was more spread out. This new auction this time includes with it some newspaper clippings from I think the Times, which relate to a Nelson exhibition, the RUSI Museum, Trafalgar Day and a black and white picture of Merton Place. This is on offer at £2,000. The seller advises he obtained this from another dealer but has no further provenance. One of the conclusions from the original posts was why this hadn't been referred for verification to someone like Sotheby's or Christies. The seller says he is still researching the item and mentions the auction of Lady Hamilton's effects but appears to have no further firm proof of it's authenticity. If this is not the same copy of the book offered 4 years ago, it begs the question are there multiple copies of this going around the market? I believe Johnsons Lives was in 3 vols in the late 1700's. If by any chance this is authentic in any way, would Nelson have written a dedication in all three volumes? Phil |
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| Author: | tycho [ Tue Sep 15, 2015 3:25 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: A Poetry Book from Horatio Nelson |
At first glance the handwriting looks convincing - a bit wobbly perhaps. Maybe written at sea? However, the signature Horatio Nelson puzzles me. By the time Nelson became close friends with the Hamiltons he was already a viscount and a Neapolitan duke and signed himself as such - firstly as Bronte Nelson of the Nile and later as Nelson & Bronte. Even in his most intimate letters to Emma he concluded in this formal way as was the custom at the time. Prior to his elevation to the peerage he was Sir Horatio Nelson and before that, Admiral/Commodore Nelson. He would throughout this period have used the signature Horatio Nelson. How soon after the battle of the Nile did Nelson receive the news of his elevation? Could the book have been presented in the brief interlude before he heard the news? The only other possibility is that he presented the book on the occasion of his meeting with Lady Hamilton in 1793. In both cases he would have signed himself Horatio Nelson. Is it likely that the book would date from this time when he had only a short formal meeting with her? |
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| Author: | tycho [ Tue Sep 15, 2015 5:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: A Poetry Book from Horatio Nelson |
It's just occurred to me that the signature is in Nelson's 'left-handed' writing so it must have been written post-1797. |
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