WILLYAMS, Cooper.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

A Voyage up the Mediterranean in His Majesty's Ship the Swiftsure, First edition of this first-hand account, including that of the Battle of the Nile. Willyams's work, " full of engravings from his own drawings... contained 'the first, the most particular, and the most authentic account of the battle'" (ODNB). It is from the collection of Clive Richards, who owned "the finest collection of Nelson letters in private hands" (The Telegraph).Cooper Willyams (1762-1816), a topographer and artist, was ordained in 1784. In 1797, he became domestic chaplain to the earl of St Vincent before, a year later, he began serving as chaplain of HMS Swiftsure, captained by Benjamin Hallowell.Abbey notes the existence of a large paper copy with hand-colouring and a regular paper copy "presumably uncoloured". NMM also notes that "one hundred special copies, coloured, were produced on large paper; some ordinary copies also coloured". This is likely one of the coloured regular copies.Richards was vice president of the Nelson Society and a member of the 1805 Club for 30 years. His invoice (dated 4 June 1999) and bookplate are loosely inserted.

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