O ur December auction is led by a consignment of fine books from a private Scottish library which includes an unusually fine copy of the rare first edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, as well as Burns’s Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (Kilmarnock, 1786), the Beckford copy of Cook’s Voyages (1773-88), Robinson Crusoe (1719-20), a binding produced for Mary, Queen of Scots, and other fine books. Another major group within the sale is a collection of love letters recording one of history’s great romances, that of Admiral Nelson and Emma Hamilton, from the collection of the late Jean Kislak.
Sale Contents
Lots 101-144: Fine books and manuscripts from a private Scottish library
Lots 145-165: Property from the Lady Hamilton Collection of Jean Kislak
Lots 166-212: Antiquarian Books and Manuscripts
Lots 214-294: Modern Books, Illustrations, and Artwork, 1800-Present
Auction Highlights
Medieval and Antiquarian
Shakespeare
Science and Exploration
Viscount Horatio Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton
The sale includes exceptional pieces from the Lady Hamilton collection of Jean Hart Kislak (1931-2022). Mrs Kislak was fascinated by Emma Hamilton, a woman who through her beauty and strength of character was able to raise herself from poverty and come to play an extraordinary and varied place in history: she was muse to Romney, confidante to Queen Maria Carolina, and lover to Horatio Nelson. Mrs Kislak spent some thirty years assembling an astonishing collection of letters, paintings, and other pieces that trace Emma’s remarkable and turbulent life. Emma Hamilton’s life is of course forever entwined with that of her lover, Lord Nelson. The group of items in the current sale includes remarkable and intimate love letters – including one of the very few surviving letters from Emma to Nelson – and a range of other pieces that trace Emma Hamilton’s life from her arrival in Naples to her lonely and disappointed final years.
- 1786
- 1798
- 1800
- 1801 February
- 1801 October
- 1805 May
- 1805 October
- 1809
- 1813
- 1815
-
1786Emma Hamilton arrives in Naples on her twenty-first birthday. She has been cast off by her lover, Charles Greville, and sent to his uncle, Sir William Hamilton, British Ambassador to the royal court at Naples, in exchange for Hamilton making Greville his heir.
Sir William Hamilton | Series of five letters to his nephew Charles Greville, 1779-99
Estimate: £6,000-8,000
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1798Nelson arrives in Naples as a hero after the Battle of the Nile. He is forced to supervise the evacuation of the royal family as French forces advance south through Italy stirring up a Jacobin revolution. Emma’s unwavering support throughout brings her closer to Nelson, and the two begin an affair.
Emma, Lady Hamilton | Autograph letter signed, to Cornelia Knight, on preparations to flee Naples, 1798
Estimate: £1,500-2,000
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1800Nelson is recalled to Britain after three years in the Mediterranean; Sir William Hamilton is also recalled, after more than 35 years in Naples. By the time the trio reach England in November, Emma is heavily pregnant with Nelson’s child.
Horatio, Viscount Nelson | Autograph letter signed, to Emma Hamilton, 13 February 1800
Estimate: £8,000-12,000
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1801 FebruaryNelson is recalled to active service early in the year. He is preparing to depart for the Baltic when Emma gives birth to their daughter, who is named Horatia. Although their affair is public knowledge, the birth of a child is kept secret. They correspond about Horatia by using false names, and the infant is sent out to a nurse soon after birth.
Horatio, Viscount Nelson | Autograph letter signed, to Emma Hamilton, on his desire to marry her, 3 February 1801
Estimate: £15,000-20,000
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1801 OctoberFollowing his victory in the Baltic at the Battle of Copenhagen, Nelson is put in command of the Channel Squadron responsible for preventing invasion from France. The Peace of Amiens, which comes in the autumn of 1801, allows Nelson to return to land. He and Emma begin a new life together at the home she has chosen for them, Merton Place in Surrey.
Horatio, Viscount Nelson | Autograph letter signed, to Emma Hamilton, 13 February 1800
Estimate: £8,000 - 12,000
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1805 MayWar has returned to Europe and, with Napoleon triumphant across the continent, Britain’s security depends on the Royal Navy. Nelson, who has been at sea since the summer of 1803, chases the French fleet across the Atlantic and back, but also turns his thoughts to personal affairs. He asks that Horatia to brought back to her mother’s care, under the fiction that she will be the girl’s “guardian”.
Horatio, Viscount Nelson | Autograph letter signed, to Emma Hamilton, entrusting Horatia to her care, 16 May 1805
Estimate: £15,000-20,000
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1805 OctoberAfter two years at sea, Nelson is reunited with Emma and their daughter, but on 14 September he raises his flag once more on HMS Victory. The Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October ends the naval threat to Britain, but sees the death of the nation’s greatest naval hero. On the day of the battle Nelson writes a final codicil to his will, begging that King and Country will give Emma "ample provision to maintain her Rank in Life”.
Emma, Lady Hamilton | Autograph letter signed, to Lord Nelson, a rare surviving letter, 4 October 1805
Estimate: £35,000-50,000
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1809Emma Hamilton never received the support that had been Nelson’s dying wish. Hopelessly profligate, and never quite believing in the nation’s ingratitude, she spiralled ever further into debt. In 1809 she was forced to sell Merton Place.
Emma, Lady Hamilton--Merton Place | Collection of financial papers relating to the sale of the house, 1807-10
Estimate: £1,500-2,000
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1813In and out of debtors’ prison, Emma Hamilton petitioned the government for support. Even aside from the debt owed to Nelson’s memory, she had played an important diplomatic role in supporting British interests in Naples in the 1790s, when she had been a trusted friend to the Queen.
Emma, Lady Hamilton | Manuscript memorandum recounting her services to the British in Naples, 1813
Estimate: £4,000-6,000
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1815Emma Hamilton dies in exile in Calais. Horatia is with her, but never acknowledges that Emma was more than her guardian. Emma is buried in a local churchyard but by the end of the 19th century the precise location of her grave had been lost. In 1994, thanks in large part to Jean Kislak, a monument is raised in Emma Hamilton’s memory at the Parc Richelieu in Calais.