Naval Chronology of Great Britain, The
London: Whitmore and Fenn, 1818. Item #05704
The Baroness Burdett-Coutts–Norman Bobins Copy of One of the Great Rarities
of British Naval Color-Plate Books
The Exceptionally Rare First Edition in the Original Twelve Parts,
with Sixty Superb Contemporary Hand-Colored Aquatints
RALFE, Mr. J[ames]. Naval Chronology of Great Britain; or, an Historical Account of Naval and Maritime Events; Including Memoirs of the Most Distinguished Naval Officers; Official Letters of Every Action Which Has Occurred Since the Commencement of the War in 1803, to the End of the Year 1816; Also, Narratives of Shipwrecks, Particulars of the Most Important Courts-Martial, Votes of Parliament, Lists of Flag Officers in Commission, and of Promotions for Each Year. The Whole Forming a Complete Naval History of the Above Period. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings, by the Best Artists. London: Whitmore and Fenn, 1818–1819.
First edition, exceptionally rare in the original twelve parts, with sixty magnificent aquatint plates in genuine contemporary hand-coloring. Tall octavo (10 1/8 x 6 7/8 inches; 256 x 175 mm.). Sixty hand-colored aquatint plates, including frontispiece, with original tissue guards. The plates, some watermarked 1818 and 1819, retain their engraved inscriptions identifying the artists and sources of the original compositions.
Original buff printed wrappers, with expert and sympathetic restoration undertaken in 2013 by master restoration artist Bruce Levy. Part I: facsimile wrappers; Part II: joints and spine extremities restored, rear wrapper in facsimile; Part III: spine extremities repaired, front wrapper reattached; Part IV: loss to one plate professionally filled, front wrapper restored at fore-edge; Part VI: front wrapper reattached; Part VII: facsimile wrappers, seven plates reattached; Part VIII: facsimile wrappers, six plates reattached; Part IX: backstrip repaired, wrappers reattached; Part X: joints and spine extremities repaired; Part XI: front joint and spine extremities repaired, five plates reattached; Part XII: backstrip repaired, corner restored.
The original front wrappers of Parts IX–XII bear manuscript ownership inscriptions reading "Burdett-Coutts," attributed to Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts (1814–1906). Several wrappers also retain contemporary manuscript indications of the fifteen-shilling price of the colored issue.
A remarkably well-preserved and complete set, the plates generally fresh and beautifully colored, the original wrappers retaining much of their character despite the necessary restoration. Housed in a specially made blue cloth drop-back clamshell box.
An extraordinary survival in the original parts, with distinguished nineteenth-century and modern provenance. Ralfe's Naval Chronology is scarce in any form with genuine contemporary hand-coloring, but complete sets preserved in the twelve original parts are of exceptional rarity. At the time of its earlier cataloguing, only one example in original parts had been traced at auction during the preceding fifty-three years, that appearance occurring in 1960. The more frequently encountered three-volume edition, published in 1820, is comparatively obtainable.
The distinction between the genuine contemporary colored issue and copies subsequently colored is of considerable bibliographical importance. Abbey notes that plates colored at a later date lack the engraved inscriptions identifying the original artists or sources, which are present in this copy. Tooley expressly remarks that "Genuine colored copies are rare." The original wrappers themselves advertise the subscription prices as 10s. 6d. plain and 15s. colored, providing valuable evidence of the publication's original commercial history.
Provenance: Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts (1814–1906), 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, with ownership inscriptions attributed to her at the head of the original printed front wrappers of Parts IX–XII; Norman Bobins, from whose celebrated collection of color-plate books this very set is recorded in The Exotic and the Beautiful, Volume IV, no. 1290.
Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts was one of the most remarkable women of Victorian Britain. Heiress to the immense Coutts banking fortune, she became renowned for her extraordinary philanthropy, supporting education, housing, hospitals, and charitable enterprises throughout Britain and abroad. A close associate of Charles Dickens, she was created Baroness Burdett-Coutts in 1871, becoming one of the first women to receive a peerage in her own right. Her association with this copy adds a distinguished chapter to its history.
The set subsequently entered the renowned collection of Norman Bobins, one of the foremost modern collectors of illustrated color-plate books. Acquired by Bobins from David Brass Rare Books in 2016, it was later included in his published collection and offered at Christie's in 2023, before returning to David Brass Rare Books in November of that year.
One of the most important illustrated chronicles of British naval history during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812, Ralfe's monumental work records the naval engagements, maritime operations, shipwrecks, courts-martial, promotions, and careers of British naval officers during a period of almost continuous conflict. Its narrative encompasses the great age of British naval supremacy, when the Royal Navy played a decisive role in the struggle against Napoleonic France and in Britain's maritime conflict with the United States.
The sixty superb aquatint plates, engraved by such accomplished artists as T. Sutherland, F.C. Lewis, and D. Havell, after compositions by T. Whitcombe, J. Beresford, W.A. Armstrong, J. Gore, W. Hill, and others, rank among the finest pictorial records of British naval warfare published in the early nineteenth century. Many were based upon sketches and drawings by naval officers, including participants in the engagements depicted.
The plates capture the majesty of the British fleet under sail, the violence and confusion of naval engagements, the destruction of enemy vessels, and the terrifying spectacle of ships engulfed in flames. Their remarkable detail, dramatic compositions, and delicate contemporary coloring make them as appealing to collectors of fine illustrated books as to students of naval and maritime history.
Dedicated, by permission, to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, the work attracted an impressive subscription list embracing members of the royal family, prominent statesmen, and many distinguished naval officers.
In his original prospectus, Ralfe declared: "The object of this work is, more particularly, to perpetuate the names of those individuals who have, by their talents, courage, and professional abilities, increased the honour and reputation of the British Navy, and secured the peace and independence of the Country."
The publication was conceived not merely as a historical record but also as an artistic monument to the achievements of the Royal Navy, its publishers emphasizing the accuracy of the drawings, the superior quality of the engravings, and the excellence of their execution.
An exceptional copy of one of the great British naval color-plate books: complete in the original twelve parts, with all sixty aquatints in genuine contemporary hand-coloring, retaining its original printed wrappers and distinguished by the Burdett-Coutts and Norman Bobins provenances. A remarkable survival from the golden age of British maritime illustration.
Abbey, Life, 342; Bobins, The Exotic and the Beautiful, IV, 1290 (this copy); Tooley 392; Sabin 67602; Howes R21; cf. Prideaux, p. 348 (three-volume edition).
Price: $14,500.00