1807 - Beatty, William - THE DEATH OF LORD NELSON, TRAFALGAR, HMS VICTORY

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1807 RARE Ist Ed THE DEATH OF LORD NELSON by W Beatty TRAFALGAR H M S VICTORY

Wer hat noch Taschengeld übrig? Ich leider nicht ...

... leider!!!

Werbung: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1807-RARE-Ist-...ZAAAOSw4DJYkF-S

"AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE

of

THE DEATH OF LORD NELSON

With the Circumstances preceding, attending, and Subsequent to that Event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE

PROFESSIONAL REPORT ON HIS LORDSHIP'S WOUND.

And interesting Anecdotes.

by

WILLIAM BEATTY M.D.

(Surgeon to the Victory in the battle of Trafalgar, and now Physician to the Fleet under the Command of the Earl of St. Vincent.)

~~~~~~~~~~~

1807 First Edition.

Printed by T Davison for T Cadell and W Davies.

1807
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beatty was the Surgeon who attended Nelson, and performed the Autopsy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slim 8vo. original paper covered boards, with more recent matching canvas spine. Minor judicious professional restoration has been carried out in more recent times.

Rubbed edges as to be expected, 90pp. including Appendix containing Instructions issued by Lord Nelsonto The Admirals and Captains of his Fleet, several days before the Battle.

Two plates including engraved portrait frontis of Nelson and engraving of the Representation of the Ball.

All as called for.

Frontis mildly foxed, as is usual, the 'Ball' plate beautifully clean as are the pages throughout.

On the front cover, most certainly contemporary, is the signature, as far as I can make out, is Frank B Hardy.

I have researched the name, and it may be coincidental being the surname of Captain Hardy! as I can discover no connection.

A really attractive copy, exceedingly scarce."

Gemälde von Arthur William Devis, 1762 - 1822: Death of Nelson



Figures featured
Revd Scott, Nelson's chaplain, rubbing his chest to help relieve the pain
Victory's purser Walter Burke, supporting the pillow.
Nelson’s steward, Chevalier, looking towards Beatty, ship's surgeon
Beatty, who feels Nelson’s pulse and is about to pronounce him dead.
Captain Hardy, standing behind him - not actually present at the moment of death
Midshipman Collingwood and Lieutenant Yule (rear left and left), with a pile of captured enemy flags being brought in by a seaman
Guitano, Nelson’s valet, standing in right profile in front of Collingwood, holding a glass from which Nelson took his last sips of water
‘Victory's' carpenter, Mr Bunce, stands on the far right above Bligh
Lieutenant George Miller Bligh, the dazed and wounded figure far right, below Bunce
Assistant Surgeon Neil Smith seated far right

from Wikipedia

Und habe das PDF gefunden :-) :-) :-)

Dritte Auflage mit Anhängen und Anmerkungen.

*freude*

XXXDAn

Ich habe kurz angelesen und es ist sehr interessant. Er schreibt über den geringen Krankenstand und andere interessante Informationen.

Auch findet sich hier der klare Hinweis auf die gelben Mastreifen, dabei auch ein interessanter Hinweis zu den Kommunikationswegen:

"It was well known to His
Lordship, that all the Enemy's ships had
the iron hoops on their masts painted
black ; whereas the British ships, with the
exception of the Bellisle and Polyphemus,
had theirs painted yellow : and as he considered
that this would serve for a very
good mark of distinction in the heat of
battle, he made known this circumstance
to the Fleet, and accordingly ordered the
Bellisle and Polyphemus to paint their
hoops yellow; but the evening being far
advanced when the signal was made to
them for this purpose. His Lordship
fearing that it might not be distinctly understood,
sent the Entreprenante cutter to
them to communicate the order."

Vielleicht wurde die Bellisle deswegen so gerupft während der Schlacht - sie hatten vergessen die Mastreifen umzustreichen und es waren NICHT die Franzosen, die den Kahn entmastet hatten ...

Interessant die Zusammenfassung des Gesundheitszustandes der Besatzung der Victory:

"The Victory's sick-report for this day [Trafalgar] numbered only ten convalescents, who all attended their respective quarters during the battle ; and the whole Fleet was in a high state of health. Indeed the excellent health enjoyed by the crew of the Victory from December 1804 up to this period, is perhaps unprecedented and is attributable solely to Captain Hardy's attention to their subordination, temperance, warm clothing, and cleanliness; together with the means daily adopted to obviate the effects of moisture, and to accomplish the thorough ventilation of every part of the ship.

The Victory arrived at Spithead from the memorable and arduous chase of the Enemies' Fleets to Egypt and the West Indies, in August 1805 : and notwithstanding the operation of the unfavorable circumstances of rapid change of climate, and the privation of refreshments experienced in that chase, as well as frequent increase of numbers (as in the West Indies there were at one time embarked in her above 990 souls), there was not now a single hospital-patient on board, nor did any occur during the several weeks of her stay in England ; with which Lord Nelson expressed himself much gratified when he joined the ship again, on the 14th of September at St. Helen's.

The Victory's casualties from the 29th of December 1804 to the 20th of October following, were only five fatal cases (one of these by accidental injury), and only two patients sent to a naval hospital".

Beachtenswert auch, dass trotz des den heutigen Sicherheitsvorschriften nicht entsprechenden Arbeitsplatzes nur 1 tödlicher Unfall innerhalb eines Jahres passierte. Auch die Aussage, dass zeitweilig 990 Mann und somit knapp 150 mehr als geplant an Bord waren ist bemerkenswert.

PS: Interessant ist auch eine spätere Fußnote, dass der tödliche Unfall eine Verletzung der Wirbelsäule des verunglückten zur Folge hatte und sich Nelson damals laut dem Bericht sehr für dessen Schicksal interessiert hatte. Während der knapp 12 Stunden bis zum Tode ließ er sich genau unterrichten was jeweils passiert. Vielleicht wusste Nelson auch deshalb scheinbar recht gut einzuschätzen, wie es um ihn bestellt war.

"The Victory had no musketry in her tops: as His Lordship had a strong aversion to small arms being placed there, from the danger of their setting fire to the sails ; which indeed was illustrated on this occasion by the destruction of the French ship Achille, which took fire in the fore-top early in this battle. It is a species of warfare by which individuals may suffer, and now and then a Commander be picked off: but it can hardly ever decide the fate of a general engagement ;"

Der für mich eher langweilige Teil sind die letzten Stunden Nelsons. Sämtliche häufig zu findenden Zitate und Ereignisse dieser Zeitspanne sind wortwörtlich hier zu finden und dürften somit die Originalquelle sein. Interessant sind auch einige Nebensätze, wie der Chirurg, der sich um William Rivers [junior/Sohn des gleichnamigen Gunners] kümmern musste, von dem aus anderen Quellen bekannt ist, dass ihm der Fuß abgeschossen wurde und amputiert werden musste.

Anhang sind die persönlichen Logbucheinträge Nelsons der letzten Tage vor Trafalgar, aber darin ist anscheinend nichts Neues.

Insgesamt ein interessantes Büchlein, das als Grundlage für die meisten Erzählungen der Schlacht aus britischer Sicht gelten dürfte. Insgesamt ist es kongruent mit den mir bekannten Informationen auch aus anderen Quellen, "Ihre Lordschaft" wird zwar hochgelobt was sich aber noch im "normalen" Rahmen eines solchen Ereignisses bewegt.

XXXDAn