Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

NELSON (HORATIO) Order signed ("Nelson & Bronte"), with signed autograph postscript ("Water at Gibraltar or Tetuan/ Nelson & Bronte"), the text in the hand of Nelson's secretary, John Scott, to Lord Mark Kerr of the Fisgard, ordering him to proceed "with the utmost expedition", Victory at sea, 15 November 1804 image 1
NELSON (HORATIO) Order signed ("Nelson & Bronte"), with signed autograph postscript ("Water at Gibraltar or Tetuan/ Nelson & Bronte"), the text in the hand of Nelson's secretary, John Scott, to Lord Mark Kerr of the Fisgard, ordering him to proceed "with the utmost expedition", Victory at sea, 15 November 1804 image 2
Lot 84

NELSON (HORATIO)
Order signed ("Nelson & Bronte"), with signed autograph postscript ("Water at Gibraltar or Tetuan/ Nelson & Bronte"), the text in the hand of Nelson's secretary, John Scott, to Lord Mark Kerr of the Fisgard, ordering him to proceed "with the utmost expedition", Victory at sea, 15 November 1804

24 June 2015, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £2,750 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Books & Manuscripts specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

NELSON (HORATIO)

Order signed ("Nelson & Bronte"), with signed autograph postscript ("Water at Gibraltar or Tetuan/ Nelson & Bronte"), the text in the hand of Nelson's secretary, John Scott, to Lord Mark Kerr of the Fisgard, ordering him to proceed "with the utmost expedition" through the Straights to join, either off Cape Spartel or Cape St Vincent, Sir Richard Strachan in the Donegal, under whose command he is to place himself; and instructing him, should he fall in with any Spanish merchant vessels to detain them and send them to either Gibraltar or Malta; adding that should he see either the Halcyon or the Sophie, they will probably be able to tell him the position Strachan has taken; counter-signed "By Command of the Vice Admiral/ John Scott", headed by one of Scott's clerks: "By the Right Honourable Lord Viscount K.B. Duke of Bronte in Sicily, Knight of the Great Cross of St Ferdinand and of Merit, Knight of the Order of the Crescent and of the Illustrious Order of St Joachim, Vice Admiral of the White and Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels employed and to be employed on the Mediterranean Station"; recipient's docket, 2 pages, paper watermarked ʻFellows/ 1804' and with the figure of Britannia, minor dust-staining on outer blank where folded for filing, folio, Victory at sea, 15 November 1804

Footnotes

WAR WITH SPAIN AND THE ADMIRALTY. Although Spain was not officially to declare war on Great Britain until 14 December, open warfare had broken out on 5 October, when English ships seized the Spanish treasure fleet, and on 15 November Nelson issued a general order to his fleet (to which he refers in the present document) announcing the outbreak of war and ordering attacks on enemy vessels. A greater threat to Nelson's ambitions came however from within the Admiralty. Lord Melville, the First Lord, had created an independent command covering Cadiz, which hitherto had been deemed part of Nelson's Mediterranean station, and given the post to Nelson's rival, Sir John Orde (who had been passed over for the Nile command in 1798): ʻJust as the rich pickings of a Spanish war began flooding in, the Admiralty sent another admiral to reap the rewards that had traditionally belonged to the commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean... Nelson's suspicions of Orde ran deep. The latter was the senior of the two officers, and Nelson pictured him tapping supplies intended for the Mediterranean, purloining and redeploying ships for his own purposes, and cornering the lion's share of the prize money. Nelson sent the Anson, Niger and Childers to reinforce Strachan outside the Straight in October and November, the last two after hearing of Orde's appointment. Partly he saw it as an opportunity to reward faithful followers by putting them in the way of rich pickings. "Make your fortune!" he told Strachan' (Sugden, pp. 721, 724). The order sent to Captain Hillyar of the Niger, nearly identical to ours and dated the same day, is printed by Nicolas; where ours does not appear.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A Presentation Copy of Kennedy's First Book to Spencer Tracy. Kennedy, John F. 1917-1963. Why England Slept. New York: Wilfred Funk, Inc., 1940.

Signed to Spencer Tracy 1952 Hemingway, Ernest. 1899-1961. The Old Man and the Sea, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952.

CORNELIUS, MATTHEWS, editor. 1817-1889. The Enchanted Moccasins and Other Legends of the American Indians.

CALEPINO, AMBROGIO. 1435-1511. [Dictionarium.] Calepinus Ad librum. Mos est putidas.... Venice: Peter Liechtenstein, January 3, 1509.

HEARN, LAFCADIO. 1850-1904. [Japanese Fairy Tales.] Philadelphia: Macrae-Smith, [But Tokyo: T. Hasegawa,] [c.1931].

HEMINGWAY, ERNEST. 1899-1961. PUTNAM, SAMUEL, translator. Kiki's Memoirs. Paris: Sign of the Black Manikin, 1930.