Nelson & His World

An unpublished letter by Nelson is for sale - expected to make £12,000.

I believe Colin White was working on a further edition of 'The New Letters' at the time of his death. Has anyone heard more?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... algar.html

Glad to be back on line - an ISP crash then a fault on our phone line silenced me, but all is now - for the moment - well!

Just been on the Daily Mail website looking at the gossip and totally missed this! That is a really badly copied Nelson portrait to accompany the article. £12,000 sounds a bit cheap to me - I think I'd try to buy it for that!

Caitlin

So was it you that bumped it up to the whopping £32,450 that it went for, Caitlin?

Wow! That is some price!

I would LOVE to know who the buyer was.

Tony - just out of interest which sale was the letter included in.

MB

Mark, the sale was Sotheby's yesterday - see: http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/Lo ... ber=L10404

There were 6 Nelson items (lots 13-18), totalling over £60,000, with half coming from that one letter (lot 18), no doubt because it was written only 4 days before his death and showed his impatience for battle: 'I am anxious for an easterly wind'.

What is the record for a single letter of his? This must surely be close?

There was also an Emma Hamilton letter.

I think the record for a Nelson letter is £117,250. This was the famous letter he wrote to Lady Hamilton: 'I can neither eat nor sleep for thinking of you....' etc.

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P1-88014252.html

I have been in correspondence with the buyer but am sworn to secrecy, so cannot reveal his/her identity.

The Telegraph also had a write-up on the current letter.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... algar.html

I note that they say a Nelson letter is more valuable the nearer to his death it was written. I think that's a bit sweeping. Content, context and recipient all play a part.

Oh yes, THAT one - much more interesting (especially to students of English literature) than stuff about watering his ships and easterly winds - and cheap at the price!