![[WAR of 1812] LAWRENCE, JAMES. Collection of portraits and rare books.](/sites/default/files/styles/auction_slider/public/images/lots/980/1509980.jpg?itok=ccfrY2Xz)
Lot Details
Lot 59
[WAR of 1812] LAWRENCE, JAMES. Collection of portraits and rare books.
A fine group of early and rare materials relating to American naval hero James Lawrence (1781-1813) from the collection of his great-nephew Dr. Eugene H. Pool. The early portraits comprising: an original engraved copper plate attributed to Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin, 3 x 2 3/4 inches (18 x 17 cm), housed in an its original book-form case with clasp, the plate pitted, the cover detached and the case worn; Two circa 1813 prints after Saint-Mémim, the first hand-colored and published in London by Williamson, in an old frame, the second uncolored and published by Edwin, framed. The books comprising: [IRVING, WASHINGTON]. Biography of James Lawrence, Esq., Late a Captain in the Navy of the U.S.: Together with a Collection of the Most Interesting Papers, Relative to the Action between the Chesapeake and Shannon, and the Death of Captain Lawrence, &c. &c. New Brunswick, NJ: L. Deare, [1813]. First edition of Irving's rare third published work. Finely bound in full blue morocco with an anchor motif in gilt by Taffin, with frontispiece after Saint-Mémin, 244 pp., the upper joint worn, internally fine, Pool bookplate; An Account of the Funeral Honours Bestowed on the Remains of Capt. Lawrence and Lieut. Ludlow, with the Eulogy Pronounced at Salem, by Hon. Joseph Story. Boston: Printed by Joshua Belcher, 1813. First edition. Contemporary calf boards. 64 pp. Worn with covers detached, lacks spine, foxed, the final leaf repaired. Sabin 39355; GREAVES, ALBERT. The Life of Captain James Lawrence. Two volumes, highly extra-illustrated with the inclusion of letters from the author and publisher, portraits and maps. Full blue morocco gilt by Larkin. Joints worn; and A Catalogue of the Eugene H. Pool Collection of Captain James Lawrence, Salem, Peabody Museum, 1942. Original cloth. Some wear to joints, internally fine, Pool bookplate.
Provenance: Dr. Eugene H. Pool, by descent
A fine group of rare items collected by a descendent of the American naval hero James Lawrence (1781-1813), captain of the Chesapeake who famously uttered the phrase "Don't give up the ship" upon being mortally wounded in the short but fierce naval battle with the British frigate Shannon in June 1813. The small copper plate is attributed to Saint-Mémin and its descent in the family is outlined in the Catalogue present here. The two prints accompanying the plate are early and scarce, one being finely hand-colored and prepared for an English audience, the other also used as the frontispiece in Washington Irving's 1813 biography of Lawrence. This volume by Irving is rare and was his third book published in October 1813 following the hastily published version in the August 1813 issue of the Analectic Magazine, of which Irving was the editor. The two volume extra-illustrated work by Greaves includes several rare prints of ships associated with Lawrence such as The Hornet, The Peacock, the Chesapeake & Shannon and portraits of Lawrence and other notable American naval figures and British officers associated with the battle that took Lawrence's life. Most of these items are included and described in the Catalogue of Dr. Pool's collection along with stories of the painstaking efforts to obtain these items in the first half of the twentieth century.
C Property from the Estate of Dr. James Lawrence Pool
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