WHITCOMBE, T.; and R. & D. HAVELL, engraver

To the Right Honorable Charles Yorke, First Lord of the Admiralty, &c. &c. Plate 2nd. Representing the British Line after Wearing to renew the Action, Starboard division of the Enemy passing under the Amphion's Stern and raking her Larboard division hawling to the Wind on the laboard Tack, engaging the Gerberus, Active and Volage ... [With:] To the Right Honorable Charles Yorke, First Lord of the Admiralty, &c. &c. Plate 3rd. Representing the Favorite of 44 Guns, Commodore Dubordieu on Shore and on Fire_ Active and Cerberus taking possession of the Corona of 44 Guns, and a Boat from the Amphion boarding the Bellona of 32 Guns_ The Flora of 44 Guns escaping after having struck her Colours owing to the crippled state of the British Squadron.

London: George Andrews, 1812. Pair of color printed aquatints, with hand-coloring, engraved by R. and D. Havell. Expert restoration. Sheet size: 18 x 24 3/4 inches.

Lovely pair of color aquatints depicting a naval battle between the British and French in the Adriatic Sea during the Napoleonic Wars.

A pair of engravings from a suite of hand-colored plates recounting the Battle of Lissa on March 13, 1811. "The Battle of Lissa (sometimes called the Battle of Vis; French: Bataille de Lissa; Italian: Battaglia di Lissa; Croatian: Viška bitka) was a naval action fought between a British frigate squadron and a larger squadron of French and Italian frigates and smaller ships on 13 March 1811 during the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. The engagement was fought in the Adriatic Sea for possession of the strategically important island of Lissa (also known as Vis), from which the British squadron had been disrupting French shipping in the Adriatic. The French needed to control the Adriatic to supply a growing army in the Illyrian Provinces, and consequently dispatched an invasion force in March 1811 consisting of six frigates, numerous smaller craft and a battalion of Italian soldiers. The French invasion force under Bernard Dubourdieu was met by Captain William Hoste and his four ships based on the island. In the subsequent battle, Hoste sank the French flagship, captured two others, and scattered the remainder of the Franco-Venetian squadron. The battle has been hailed as an important British victory, due to both the disparity between the forces and the signal raised by Hoste, a former subordinate of Horatio Nelson. Hoste had raised the message "Remember Nelson" as the French bore down, and had then manoeuvred to drive Dubourdieu's flagship ashore and scatter his squadron in what has been described as "one of the most brilliant naval achievements of the war." (Wikipedia).

Item #31257

Price: $3,750.00