LOT RR Auction  /  RR Auction Quality Autograph Auction 378  / 

415

Horatio Nelson: Henry W. Carpenter

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:25,000.00 - 30,000.00 USD
Horatio Nelson: Henry W. Carpenter

Bidding Over

The auction is over for this lot.
The auctioneer wasn't accepting online bids for this lot.

Contact the auctioneer for information on the auction results.

Search for other lots to bid on...
Auction Date:2011 Nov 09 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
An original 3.25 x 2 swatch from the main topsail of Horatio Nelson’s flagship H.M.S. Victory. Accompanied by a two-page ALS, signed “Henry W. Carpenter, Captain U.S. Marines, U. S. Flag Ship Olympia,” two lined pages, 7 x 9, Marine Guard letterhead, dated January 7, 1903. Carpenter writes, in full: “This is to certify that during the month of June 1902, while paying a mess call from the U.S.F.S. Illinois, then representing the United States Navy at the Coronation Naval Review at Spithead, England, I went on board the H.M.S. Victory, the flagship of the late Admiral Horatio Nelson R.N. at the battle of Trafalgar, and was presented with a small piece of the main topsail, used during the battle, and which received over one hundred and four tears and rents from shot. It was directly below this sail, and in its very shadow that Lord Nelson received his mortal wound. The fragment of sail, was torn from the remains of the canvas just as it had been stored in a case when the ship was brought to Portsmouth England. It was given me by Lieutenant Roper R. N. who assured me it was absolutely genuine and who tore it from the larger piece with his own hand in my presence.” Swatch and letter are matted and framed together, along with a turn-of-the-century image of the Victory in Portsmouth harbor, to an overall size of 24.75 x 14. In very good condition, with expected wear and soiling to swatch, intersecting folds and toning to letter, as well as toning and foxing to mat.

An incredible artifact with firsthand provenance, this swatch comes to us directly from the days of savage battle on the high seas. Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the HMS Victory, remains today the oldest naval ship still in commission. According to Henry W. Carpenter, Commanding Guard, U. S. Marine Corps, and highest ranking officer on the U. S. S. ‘Illinois,’ “It was directly below this sail, and in its very shadow that Lord Nelson received his mortal wound,” the very topsail that “received over one hundred and four tears and rents from shot.” A truly exceptional piece from the decks of a flagship that not only served Nelson, but Keppel at Ushant, Howe at Cape Spartel, and Jervis at Cape St. Vincent, the swatch and provenance make for a genuine, one-of-a-kind relic from a legendary commander and battle.
Sign In to Bookmark Lot