
Luke Batterham
Senior Valuer
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AN EARLY SIGNAL BOOK FOR USE IN THE ROYAL NAVY: datable by the first flag illustrated in watercolour, the royal standard as flown by Queen Anne from the passing of the Act of Union on 1 May 1707 until her death on 1 August 1714. It is therefore approximately contemporary with the earliest manuscript signal book listed in the collection of the National Maritime Museum. This was compiled between 1710 and 1711, and contains additional signals made by Sir John Norris (c.1670-1749) in the Ranelagh; its format being very similar to the printed signal book of 1714 by Jonathan Greenwood (NMM sub-collection SIG/B). Signal books were generally produced to a small format, as here, so that they could easily be carried in the pocket, for ready reference. A constant worry of the Admiralty regulating their use was that they might fall into enemy hand, which appears to be the fate suffered by our volume.