[Jones, John Paul]: Leizelt, Balthasar Friedrich [engraved after Richard Paton]:

$3,750 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

COMBAT MEMORABLE ENTRE LE PEARSON ET PAUL JONES DONE LE 22 7BRE 1779. LE CAPITAINE PEARSON COMENDANT LE SERAPIS ET PAUL JONES COMMANDANT LE BON HOME RICHART ET SON ESCADRE [caption ... A striking vue d'optique copper engraving showing the famous Revolutionary War naval battle between the American ship, Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, and the British Navy vessel, Serapis, commanded by Captain Richard Pearson. Certainly one of the bloodiest naval engagements of the Revolutionary War, the battle occurred on September 23, 1779, in the English Channel off Flamborough Head. Jones and his crew struggled valiantly against the forty-four guns of the Serapis, and although his own vessel was in ruins, Jones would still not accept the British demand for surrender, declaring, "I have not yet begun to fight." Later that day the Serapis surrendered to the American naval forces, but by that time the Bonhomme Richard was so extensively damaged that it couldn't be saved; she sank on September 25, 1779, with Jones sailing the damaged but seaworthy Serapis to Holland for a refit. Leizelt's engraving focuses on the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis in close quarters, enveloped in smoke, with sailors thrown overboard during the heat of the battle clinging to the wreckage of a ship's mast floating on the water in the right foreground. Soon after the battle, London marine and naval artist, Richard Paton, created an oil painting of the action, which achieved success when this engraving

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.