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Lot 51
PALESTINE & SYRIAFive autograph letters from Lt. Col. Ralph Carr Alderson (1793-1849) of the Royal Engineers, 1841-1844; with a pen and ink view of Jerusalem
10 – 20 March 2025, 12:00 GMT
Online, London, KnightsbridgeSold for £5,632 inc. premium
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PALESTINE & SYRIA
Series of five autograph letters from Lt. Col. Ralph Carr Alderson (1793-1849) of the Royal Engineers, signed ("RC Alderson"), to Colonel Charles Richard Fox, Surveyor-General of the Ordnance, regarding his posting to Palestine and Syria, beginning with first impressions ("...reminds me much of Spain... the land of the Vine, the olive and the Fig..."), speaking of the task ahead ("...the incorrectness of the maps, the little known of the roads..."), places visited and his work assisting Turks with repairs, politics ("...nothing but power creates respect in Syria... I forsee that the occupation of strong holds by armed British troops as well as sending staff officers to Aleppo, Tripoli, Damascus, Jerusalem & Nablous will be viewed with great jealousy... by the Consols of the different powers... there is a wide difference between remaining in occupation awaiting for instructions & evacuating those places at the conclusion of the war..."), on city defences ("...Acre...ill constructed for a sea defence"), the unsettled situation ( "...the Arabs were infesting the roads robbing and murdering all who came in their way whether Turks or Egyptians..."), military manoeuvres ("...the attack on Gaza was abandoned owing to the weather..."), the death of General Michell, discussing his own position and his wish to go back to England, and much else, the final two letters complaining of the lack of reparations for those serving in Syria ("...let Lords Palmerston and Ponsonby know that we had been excluded..."), 36 pages, dust-staining, marks, edges frayed, small tears, slits for ribbon bindings, 4to and 8vo, Coast of Syria, "Beyrout", Gaza, Portsmouth, 3 April 1841 to 28 March 1844; with a finely drawn view of the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, initialled ("RCA"), one page, pen and ink, creased at vertical fold, some smudging and dust-staining, 212 x 372mm. (6)
Footnotes
'THE WHOLE OF OUR SERVICES HERE HAS BEEN OF THE MOST HARASSING AND UNSETTLED KIND': CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO THE EARLY MAPPING OF PALESTINE.
Lt. Col. Ralph Carr Alderson (1793-1849) is best known for his finely illustrated Notes on Acre and some of the Coast Defences of Syria, published in 1843 in Papers on Subjects Connected with the Duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers. This volume formed a detailed, illustrated record of British and French attacks on Acre, Jaffa and Gaza from 1799 to 1840, with Alderson contributing extensive detailed footnotes and fine illustrations, noting in his correspondence here that "...I had the honor [sic] of presenting a copy to Lord Palmerston myself...". His graphic eye-witness accounts were published at length in Sir Charles Napier's The War in Syria of 1842. Prior to this posting, Alderson served in Spain during the First Carlist War, and his extensive reports from that time are also included in this sale (see lot 34).
Charles Richard Fox (1796-1873), to whom letters are addressed, was the nephew of statesman Charles James Fox and, after his post as secretary to the Master-General of the Ordnance, acted as Surveyor-General of the Ordnance in 1841 and 1846. He served in the Grenadiers, was MP for Calne, Tavistock and Tower Hamlets, and in later life became a renowned collector of Greek coins. Whilst serving on St Helena, he famously removed Napoleon's bedroom key and gave it to his mother as a keepsake.
Provenance: General Charles Richard Fox (1796-1873); Charles Fox Frederick Adam (1852-1913), son of his sister-in-law Anne Lindsay Maberly and Sir Frederick Adam (1781-1853); Frederick Edward Fox Adam (b.1887); thence by descent to the present owner.